


The Lotus War: Metal

by Saya444



Series: The Lotus War [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Next Generation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-01 00:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20456342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saya444/pseuds/Saya444
Summary: 80 years after the Earth Empire invasion, the world is in the midst of an unstable peace, which is threatened when tensions between the White Lotus and the Red Lotus slowly escalate into a hidden shadow war beneath the surface of society. The world's only hope of maintaining stability is the next Avatar-a young man named Akira, who was raised in the world of organized crime, where power and intimidating are the common tools of trade. Forced into this conflict to protect his friends and family, Akira will do what he must to preserve his former life-no matter what measures he must take to ensure that.





	1. The Demon City

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into writing a story for the wonderful world of Avatar, so this chapter might be a bit rough to read. I'm used to writing about giant robots engaged in all our galactic civil war, but trying to write a fic for something as intricate as Avatar has me a bit nervous. I had to read The Rise of Kyoshi (excellent book, go read it) to get a feel for how to do bending in prose form and I know it doesn't show here. I wanted to post this chapter to see how it'd go before working on anything else. Think of it as a pilot episode to get a feel for writing Avatar. 
> 
> This story is set 80 years after the series finale of Korra, and the Avatar World is in its equivalent to the 80s, just entering the information age. Now a lot of things have happened before this story, which might be revealed in the future, like why are some parts of the world completely dominated by spirits, despite humanity's increasing modernization. As for our main character, the Avatar-I've always wondered what the Avatar would be like if he was raised in a family that did organized crime, and had a bit of a morally gray attitude to him. Let's see how that turns out, shall we?

The Lotus War

Book 1-Metal

Chapter 1-The Demon City

The night was so steaming hot that just thinking about breaking a sweat was enough to break a sweat. People were dropping like flies from dehydration. The street vendors sold everything they had on hand to quench their thirst. Before they knew it, they’d bartered away their own supplies and were collapsing from the heat as well.

It wasn’t hard to read a foreboding symbolism into these events.

A pale hand raised a glass. The amber liquid that half-filled it barely stirred. Full lips pressed against the transparent rim. The young woman sitting on barstool several seats away exclaimed in a long, low voice that sounded like a sigh.

Her boyfriend reacted with a fierce glare at the owner of the glass, a young teenager with a slender form clad in a black shirt and jeans with a black coat tied around his waist. He had black hair that reached a little past his ears and slightly covered his surprisingly bright green eyes. Akira silently set the empty glass down on the counter.

“You sure can put ‘em down.” The bartender said with a straight face. He and the customer went way back. “That makes three. I’ve got five more bottles cooling down in the refrigerator.”

“Much appreciated.” Said Akira, sheepishly brushing the tip of his nose with his forefinger. “Don’t ask me why, but I can put down all but the finest sake without so much as a blush. My brother’s worse. You should see him down a whole bottle of fire whiskey.”

“Fire whiskey. Really, Akira, you’re probably one of the only Earth Union people who have a monopoly on Fire Nation drinks.” The bartender’s leather face split into a boyish grin. “Speaking of which, where is your brother?”

“He’s…somewhere. Out eating, I think.” Akira said dismissively.

“And your friends?” The man’s grin grew wider.

Akira ran a hand through his messy black hair and smiled with boyish awkwardness. The bartender couldn’t hold in his bellowing laugh.

“You’re really something else, Akira.” He laughed. “How long do you think it’ll take for those girls to hunt you down?”

“Give it less than thirty minutes. I think Hua’s already on my scent.” Akira sighed forlornly, running a finger along the rim of his glass. In the dim light of the bar, his jade green eyes glowed ominously with an unearthly light, or so it seemed to his female admirer. “Aren’t there usually more people here?”

“Anyone with time on their hands is heading over to Republic City for the memorial service. Apparently it’s almost the anniversary for the Surge.”

“Oh yeah, that.” Akira’s eyes dimmed a bit, but no one noticed. “I’ve been to one of those before. It’s cool visiting Republic City, but having to deal with all that triad bull crap every time I step foot into that city got annoying fast.”

“You’ve been to Republic City before?” Asked the young woman on the barstool. She didn’t hide the fact that she had been eavesdropping on their conversation while also pointedly ignoring her boyfriend. Akira felt bad for the poor guy, she was quite the looker.

“Last year, but the first time I went was when I was a kid. I think it was during the anniversary of Avatar Korra’s death. Believe it or not, I actually met Asami Sato herself.”

“Really?” The woman’s eyes brightened. No surprise there, Asami Sato was as much as a hero to young girls everywhere as Bolin was to aspiring mover stars. “Wait…were you that kid that ran up to her and gave her a hug after her speech?”

“The very same.” Akira nodded, though he wasn’t boastful, or even proud. “Don’t ask what I was thinking. I just ran up to her and gave her a hug with my tiny baby hands. Spur of the moment kind of thing.”

“I’d killed to meet the woman in person like that.” She sighed. “This might not come as a surprise to you, but she’s, like my biggest hero.”

“I take it you’re an aspiring inventor?” He asked with a smile.

“No, I’m not that good with my hands. I want to be a computer programmer, you know, like they show on TV.”

“That’s a risky deal. Aren’t those things new?”

“Yeah, but I think computers might go a long way.” She shrugged. “Call it intuition.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

The door opened up behind him, but Akira paid it no mind as he checked his watch. “It’s getting late and I better get home before big bro or dad starts sending the troops out.”

“Too late for that.” A female voice growled behind him. Akira froze and slowly looked over his shoulder at the two young women standing behind him like a pair of dragons ready to strike.

One of the girls was exactly Akira’s age, 16 with silky black hair that, to the surprise of many, was actually natural. She had gray eyes and a slender body clad in a tight fitting black and white t-shirt and jean shorts with thigh high black stripped socks and sneakers. Two golden metal fans were attached to her belt, folded up and unassuming.

Her companion was a year older than the two of them. She had pale skin and narrow amber gold eyes indicative of her Fire Nation heritage, with dark blue, almost black, hair tied into two buns atop her head. Unlike her friend’s modern clothing style, this girl wore a black silk outfit similar to an old-style Earth Kingdom Cheongsam with form-fitting black pants and slippers. Her posture was stiff and strong like a rock, but she looked ready to move at a moment’s notice. She too had a pair of metal fans strapped to her waist.

Akira raised an eyebrow and raised his glass sin greeting to the girls, skillfully hiding his nervousness behind the empty glass. The bartender grinned and turned away while the young woman, still ignoring her annoyed boyfriend, watched on curiously.

“Hey Jade…Hua…” Akira said in a weak voice. He cleared his throat and nodded to them. “Nice summer night we’re having, huh?”

“I’m beating your ass when we get back home, Akira.” Jade said.

“Oh, come on Jinnie-“

“Don’t call me that!” She snapped.

“I just wanted to have some me-time, girls. Nothing wrong with that.” He whined.

“Except for the fact that Junpei is still hunting for you.” Hua said calmly, her expression almost stone cold, though in reality it was far from such. “Bai told us to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble.”

Akira rolled his eyes. “Of course. Can’t ruin big bro’s reputation or anything.”

“Stop bitching and let’s go. I thought you had school tomorrow.” Jade said.

“I do. Why do you care? You don’t even like school.”

“I don’t, but I hate having to get up early to wake your sorry ass up to even more.” She replied.

Akira sighed and slapped some bills onto the counter. “That’s it for me tonight. I got to go.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, Akira. You two, ladies.”

“See ya, Fan.” Jade waved lazily at the bartender while Hua gave him a stiff nod and followed her companions out.

The woman blinked at the scene, waving back at Akira as he smiled at her. “Well that was odd. Were those two his ex-girlfriends?”

“Nah, they’re his bodyguards.” The bartender said, cleaning Akira’s discarded glass. “The redhead is his girlfriend, though.”

“Bodyguards?” The woman’s boyfriend said, speaking for the first time since being snubbed by his girlfriend. “What, is he some rich kid or something?”

The bartender rolled his eyes. “You two must be new in town. That kid’s name is Fa Akira. You know, from the Fa family?”

It took a moment, but the boyfriend eventually realized the significance of that name, only seconds after his girlfriend did.

“W-Wait, so he’s…”

She trailed off, still trying to process that she had a conversation with a member of one of the Earth Union’s most prominent triad families.

XXXXXX

The night was hot and unbearable, very uncommon for early spring weather. Akira grimaced at the dense wall of heat that met him and stretched his collar out a bit. Why was it so damn hot? You’d think it was the Fire Nation with how warm it was.

“So how did you girls find me so quickly?” He asked.

Hua wordlessly held up a tiny white furred cat-like creature with big red eyes and two tails waving behind her. The little tyke purred and Akira held out his hand, taking the little feline onto his arm and placing her on his shoulder.

“Kiki, you little traitor.” He said with a grin. Kiki, a two tailed tenko, merely purred and rubbed her head against his face.

“Can we go, now? This heat’s killing me and I don’t want to be out here any longer than I need to be.” Jade said.

That was the feeling most people got when staying out in the streets of Xian after dark. As the second largest city in the Earth Union that harbored both humans and spirits, Xian had quickly became infamous for producing a rather large amount of dangerous spirits that had adapted to the urban lifestyle of humans for the sole purpose of hunting them. Spirits that looked like humans from afar but were actually more monstrous than their appearance suggested. It wasn’t uncommon to run into a few carnivorous specters that lured some poor bastard astray and he was never seen again.

“What’s the matter, Jade? Afraid of a couple of spirits?” Akira grinned.

“This month’s the summer solstice. I’m not getting anywhere near a spirit until it passes.” Jade said.

“That’s true.” He nodded. “Come on. I parked the car on the corner-“

“Hey!”

Akira paused and sighed, knowing exactly who that was. He looked across the street and saw a large, heavyset man marching towards them with three badly dressed cronies following him. Akira motioned for Jade and Hua to stand down as he addressed the leader of this little group.

“Hey, Junpei.” Akira greeted him with a smile. “You’re looking especially corpulent today.”

“Shut it, monkey boy.” Junpei growled. “You roughed up my boys the other day at the train station!”

“Your boys were harassing three girls under my employ. They were simple hostesses just doing their job and your thugs treated them like common street walkers.” Akira said calmly, not even paying the big man any attention. “It’s not my fault they called me up. Got to make good on some promises, you know?”

“You my boys into comas and call it keeping a promise?!” Junpei’s tan face was beet red right now and steam rose from his ears. Or maybe that was his sweat evaporating off his skin.

“Keep a tighter leash on your dogs and we won’t have any problems, Junpei. It’s a simple as that. Trust me, if you pulled this stuff with my brother, he’d toss you into the Nuwa River without a second thought.” He replied.

“Well your brother ain’t here right now. You are!” Junpei turned to his guys. “Waste his bitches while I burn his mouth shut!”

The three thugs nodded and charged at the trio, flames rising from their raised fists as they shot large streams of fire at them at once. Akira didn’t even flinch as the flames were blocked and deflected by a wall of swirling wind that dispersed the inferno. The thugs only had time to gap at their missed attacks before they suffered a severe counterattack of their own in the form of a powerful gust of wind that blew them back.

Jade and Hua rushed forward, unclipping their fans from their belts and swiping them in wide arcs that released strong gusts of wind. They moved in perfect synch, as if they’d done this for many years, and their combined airbending was too much for even three firebenders to handle.

Jade slashed her fans and sent to low powered air blades at the first firebender. He had no time to react as the two air blades dug into his shoulders, slicing into his skin with great ease. The force of the attack threw him back into the side of a truck, blood spurting from his deep cuts. The second firebender attempted to attack her from behind, but a swift wave of her other fan blew away the flames while she threw her first fan at him.

Augmented by Jade’s airbending, the folded up fan slammed right into the base of the firebender’s throat, making him gag and choke, allowing her to slash another smaller air blade right into his chest. Blood spurted from his out of date punk rock jacket as the sharp blade of air tore into his flesh and he stumbled back in pain. A swift air blade sent him tumbling onto his back and he didn’t get up.

“You bastard!”

The third firebender reared his fist back for a fire punch, but Hua waved her fans in his direction, catching him in a wind funnel that blew him off his feet and threw him into the windshield of a car. Folding up her fans, Hua proceeded to unleash a barrage of blasts of compressed air at the poor man. Each blast impacted his body like a rock and the repeated assault started to leave bruises on his skin. She finished it off with a graceful spin before thrusting her hand out and launching one last air blast into his face, knocking him out.

Junpei watched in shock as two girls took out his hardened firebending posse in just a couple of minutes without even breaking a sweat. He returned his attention back to Akira, who hadn’t taken his eyes off him the entire time, still sporting that annoyingly smug smirk of his.

“So much for keeping things civil.” Akira remarked.

“You…you…” Junpei trembled in rage and glared at Akira. “I’ll kill you!”

Junpei thrust both fists forward and fired a large fire blast at Akira. The young man shook his head and stomped his foot, raising a stone slab from the ground that blocked the flames from reaching him. A kick sent the slab flying at Junpei, who just barely dodge the large piece of concrete that flew close to his head. But as he readied for another attack, Akira was already on him, leaping through the air and lashing out with a kick to the face.

Junpei stumbled back and slashed his arm, releasing a flaming arc that Akira ducked under. Akira thrust a fist at Junpei and a glob of liquid metal flew out of his sleeve to smack Junpei right in the nose. He followed up with a quick one-two move that sent two rocks hitting the gang leader in the chest, and then finished it off by sliding the ground under his feet to throw Junpei over.

“Damn it!” Junpei tried to get up and attack, but the same metal blob that hit him in the face clasped around his neck like a collar, quickly solidifying and started constricting him. He gagged and struggled, spouting flames from his hands in a panicked maneuver to stop the tightening metal noose around his neck.

“Don’t bother struggling. You’re just waste more air trying to do that.” Akira said, walking up to Junpei. He encased Junpei’s flailing hands in stone and controlled the metal collar to make the firebender look at him. “Now that I have your attention, let me make one thing clear. If you or anything of your “boys” ever tries to start something with anybody on my turf, and that includes the hostess clubs and the massage parlors, I’ll make sure that you Agni Kai triad knock-offs will never see the next sunrise.”

Junpei tried to say something, but Akira tightened the band around his neck, cutting off his air.

“Don’t speak, I’m talking here.” Akira said coldly, his eyes like hard jade now. “This is your only warning. I don’t like killing people, but I’ll do what I have to in order to maintain peace in my city. So don’t even think about trying to act like you’re tough shit on my turf, understand?”

Junpei gave a little nod and Akira smiled. A flick of the wrist caused the metal band to unwrap from Junpei’s neck and fly back onto Akira’s wrist, hidden under his sleeve. The earthbender straightened his jacket and nodded to the terrified onlookers as he walked over to his car with the girls.

“That was fun.” Akira said lightly. “Doesn’t help with the heat, though.”

“Eh, sometimes we make sacrifices for the greater good.” Jade said, wrapping an arm around his waist. “That was kinda hot, though. I love it when you go stone cold on them like that.”

“Of course you do, you little demon.” Akira chuckled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The three piled into the emerald green car, with Hua in the driver’s seat, and they smoothly drove down the street, leaving behind the four seriously wounded gang members who were definitely going to have scars from this encounter.

XXXXXX

As the trio left in the car, leaving behind four wounded men lying in the street, two people stood on the sidewalk, having watched the entire altercation by chance.

The larger figure was a man, slender and tall, looking to be just in his early twenties. He had black hair tied back with a signature top knot still common among Fire Nation nobility, but his skin was a darker shade than the usual Fire Nation citizen. He was dressed in a blue shirt with silver linings and indigo colored pants and black boots. A white lotus symbol rested on the left side of his shirt.

His companion was a woman, with tan skin and dark eyes, who was slender compared to her partner’s muscular frame, and clad in a loose orange tunic and burgundy leggings. She looked both intimidating and beautiful, with dusky, heavily lashed eyes and thin lips that compressed themselves into an unreadable expression. Her hair was dark brown and tied into a braid that tumbled down one side of her head, but the front part of her forehead was shaved, revealing the lavender tattoo extended in the shape of an arrow.

“So that’s him, huh?” The man said, watching the car drive away.

“Yes, he’s the one. Now you see why my work is cut out for me.” The woman said.

“I never expected the boy we’re looking for to be a part of this city’s little criminal empire.” He said, rubbing the back of his head. “Have you double-checked, Malu?”

“Of course I have, Genji. He already has an incredibly strong spiritual aura compared to everyone here. He’s the one we’re looking for.” Malu frowned and sighed. “Normally I would’ve brought more White Lotus members along, but that would’ve only agitated Xuan’s agents. He has hundreds covering this city alone.”

“Which means he probably already knows we’re in the city. Wonderful.” Genji exhaled. “Well, worrying about it won’t make a difference. We need to check into a hotel before it gets late and we have to deal with the spirits popping out.”

Malu nodded, warily eying the intangible forms of the spidery limbed spirits that were watching them from a rooftop. “Yes, we best be on our way.”

The pair walked down the street, seemingly unaware, but actually on their guard against the spirits that lingered in the darkest shadows of downtown Xian.

XXXXXX

Fa Jian sat at his table near the windows of a high class restaurant reading a menu. Even when he was enjoying a night to himself, he looked like he was conducting a business deal and looked sharper than a dragon’s teeth.

Jian had the appearance of a sharply dressed young man just into his twenties, but held the air of someone who was more mature than what his age suggested. He was a tall, slender young man dressed in a crisp black suit that fit his body very well. His face was sharp and angular, with a pair of slender glasses covering his dark green eyes. His expression, stern and no-nonsense, said that he was not a guy who played around.

He was reading the paper while finishing his green tea. One of his bodyguards sat across from him, keeping a vigilant eye out on the other patrons without looking out of place. Jian was reading through the newspaper and came across yet another article about a spirit attack that occurred just a night ago.

“Another spirit attack by the Sanzu River. That’s the fourth attack in two weeks.” Jian muttered with a frown. “Things have been getting livelier around here since the month started. No doubt because of my brother’s special day tomorrow.”

“Move it, gramps!”

Jian glanced over at the entrance. A well-dressed man with an expression that just screamed “I’m rich, bow before me”, pushing aside an older man and his wife to speak to the receptionist. He had two other men and a woman hanging on his arm like a pretty ornament.

“Hello,” The receptionist said nervously. “Do you have a reservat-“

“Haven’t you heard? I’m friends with the owner.” The man said with an arrogant smirk. “So be a pal and let us through already, will ya?”

The receptionist didn’t take long to cave in. “Of…of course, right this way…’

“What?” The old man exclaimed. “Now wait just a-“

He was cut off when the rich man held up a fist that started to give off heat. “You got a problem with that, gramps?”

At the urging of his wife, he wisely stood down in the face of the younger and more vicious firebender. This scene caused murmurs to ripple through the crowd as they looked on in concern and disdain.

“What was that?”

“It looks like Triad…”

Jian finished his tea and stood up, glaring at the group at the entrance. “Disgraceful. Does this restaurant have no sense of dignity?” Jian said in a tight voice. “You people can’t even deal with a couple of arrogant upstarts like them.”

“Hey, you startin’ something pal?” The rich man growled. His friend paled at the sight of Jian’s cool green eyes and quickly pulled his friend to the side.

“Don’t start anything with that guy. He’s Jian, from the Fa family. Better not start any trouble with him. Let’s go…”

Jian walked past the group and handed his menu to the receptionist. “Here’s the bill. Give our seats to those two.”

He was already heading to the door without waiting for a reply, not taking notice of the grateful looks the old couple gave him.

‘Enjoy business while you can.’ Jian thought. ‘Let’s see how long this place lasts after word spreads of the Triads getting free reign of this place. I’ll make sure they run you into the ground.’

Jian went to his car and got in with his guards sitting up front. As they began to drive home, Jian heard his pager beep and took it out to see the message. It was from Hua.

‘_Found your dummy brother. Taking him back home.’ _

‘Good to know I can count on those girls to get the job done.’ Jian thought with a small smile and leaned back in his seat, enjoying the ride home. He’d need the quiet time for the hell that was going to come tomorrow morning.

XXXXXX

_“…In other news, people in all five nations prepare to hold their own memorial service as the anniversary of the catastrophic event called the Surge, in which four immense powerful spirits emerged from the three spirit portals and wreaked havoc across the world. Thousands died in the ensuing chaos and not even Avatar Korra could stem the natural disasters caused by the spirits, even at the height of her power, and it is believed that this is what would lead to her declining health in the later years of her life. As the anniversary draws near, many are wondering if the identity of the next Avatar will be revealed…”_

“Ugh, turn the channel, Hua, the last thing I need to hear is about that mess from 40 years ago.” Akira grumbled. Hua changed the radio channel to something more lighthearted, as every radio station was talking nonstop about the anniversary of a terrible disaster that occurred decades ago.

“How long do you think it’ll be before your brother hears about our little tussle in the street?” Jade asked.

“I say by morning.” Akira said.

“Within the hour.” Hua said.

“Same. That man is sharper than a badgermole’s senses.” Jade grinned. “You better hope that he doesn’t beat your fine tush before your birthday tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me. I’m pretty sure my aunt’s planning some overly fancy party to celebrate turning sixteen.” Akira sighed, looking out the car window. Xian was a beautiful city at night, but the glittering lights and towering skyscrapers only hid the hidden dangers that lurked in the shadows. The kind of dangers that not even Republic City had to deal with.

In the ninety five years since the creation of the third spirit portal, the world had changed in many ways, even more so following the Surge. Spirits could practically be found in all walks of life, mostly living within natural areas such as forests and mountain ranges. The spirits that lived within large cities like Republic City and Xian were either lesser spirits or were shapeshifters that hid among the populace getting drunk off the collective emotions of humanity.

This would lead to incidents of sudden spirit possessions that world alter them, if not kill them on the spot. Those who survive the possessions end up with lots of unneeded appendages or develop odd powers. The Earth Union and United Republic got it worst, with the Water Tribes coming in for a close second. For some reason, spirit possessions were becoming more common these days and no one knew why it was happening.

‘Probably the solstice. Heavens know that things get wonky around the solstice.’ Akira thought, petting Kiki’s back.

Kiki settled in his lap and was about to drift off when she sensed something. Her eyes shot open and she sprang to her feet, running to the car window hissing and scratching at the glass. Akira and Jade looked at her in shock.

“Whoa, whoa, Kiki, what’s the matter?” Akira tried to get the little tenko under control, but she continued hissing and growling at something outside.

“What’s wrong?” Hua asked.

“No idea. Kiki just started losing her mind.” Jade said.

Hua narrowed her eyes. Kiki was obviously no ordinary pet; she was a two-tailed feline called a tenko that Akira had found as a child in his aunt’s backyard. Over the years, Hua had made sure that Akira took Kiki everywhere with him, for the tenko was very sensitive to the presence of other spirits. And if those spirits were hostile, then Kiki would act very aggressive.

“Be on your guard you two.” Hua said. “Kiki’s probably sensing something.”

Akira and Jade looked out the windows for anything strange, but they couldn’t find anything. Even still, they began to notice that a thick mist had settled over the street. Kiki continued to hiss and snarl, and Akira had to keep a tight hold on her as his eyes scanned the street. He couldn’t see anything, but he was starting to feel that they were being followed.

That was when the fireworks began.

An explosion on the right side of the car nearly threw the vehicle off its wheels, but Hua managed to stay on the road. Akira and Jade cursed as another explosion went off behind them, and then another. Soon the one quiet night air was alight with the sounds of explosions going off like firecrackers, smoke and debris flying everywhere behind the fleeing car.

“What the hell’s attacking us?!” Jade yelled over the noise.

“I don’t know. I can’t see anything!” Akira said.

Suddenly the ground in front of the car exploded, causing Hua to serve to the side to avoid the vehicle being flipped over. A large form shot out of the hole it made in the street, a massive spirit. It had the upper body of a six-armed woman, but her body from the waist down was that of a giant centipede. The creature slithered out of the hole she made in the street and spun her massive body around, bringing her lower half down on the car.

“Out!” Hua shouted as she, Jade and Akira jumped out of the car seconds before the segmented body slammed down onto the car, crushing it like tin foil.

“Damn it,” Akira growled, looking at the crushed wreck of his car. “Dad’s going to kill me.”

The centipede woman stood on her many insectoid legs as her beady black eyes scanned over the girls and settled on Akira. He stood up and raised his arms, letting Kiki onto the ground by his feet.

“You must have quite the pair to just up and trash my car like that.” Akira said, his liquid metal bands lengthening into blades over his hands. “Who the hell are you and what do you want?”

The centipede woman tilted her head. “So you’re the one…I thought you’d be older. Seems humans have a way of disappointing me endlessly.”

Akira’s eyebrow twitched at the insult. “Okay, now you die.”

He thrust his hand up and sent a large rock flying at the woman. She easily weaved around it and shot her upper body forward, her six hands reaching out to grab him. She was hit in the side by an air blast that blew her back, and Jade and Hua were already on top of her, dancing on air as they attacked with air blasts and sweeping gusts of wind that threw the woman off balance.

The spirit woman scowled and spun her body, sweeping her centipede half in a circle that smacked away any unfortunate vehicle caught in the crossfire. Any bystanders still lingering in the area were quick to take cover from the cars that were thrown into the air and crashed down in random places. The girls dodged her sweeping attack and Akira ran forward to hop onto the very tip of her lower body, stabbing his metal blades into the gaps between her exoskeleton.

She hissed in pain and slammed her lower half on the ground, throwing him off, but he bent more rocks from the street at her, pelting her body with large chunks of concrete that shattered against her upper body. She raised her arms to protect her face and chest, missing Jade jump into the air and slash her fan, sending an air blade at her. The centipede woman howled as the air blade cut into one of her upper arms, severing it completely.

“You little bastard!” The centipede woman’s pretty face split apart, her mouth opening wide to reveal a pair of long, sharp fangs and her eyes turning completely black with her skin turning pale. She shot at Jade, jaws open wide to take a chunk out of her, and Jade was barely able to dodge her first strike. The girl wasn’t ready for the two armed punch that knocked her to the ground, right onto her shoulder.

“Jade!” Akira shouted. He and Hua were already moving to her aid, throwing blasts of air and rock at the spirit.

Her demonic visage darkened as she focused on the other two and skittered forward on her hundred little legs, thrusting her body forward faster than her size would suggest. Akira and Hua jumped apart, but the spirit lunged for Akira, causing him to stumble back. He launched a stone spike into her belly, but that only staggered her, just long enough for Hua to waved her fans in a rapid spinning motion that sent a barrage of compressed air bullets slamming into the spirit’s skull.

The centipede woman weaved her body around Hua, attempting to crush her, but she jumped away on a burst of air and kicked an air blast into her face to push her back. Hua went in for another attack, but Akira stopped her.

“Hua, get Jade to safety! I can handle this.” He said.

Hua hesitated for only moment before nodding and running over to Jade, who was struggling to get up. The centipede woman glared down at Akira.

“Ready to fight me like a man, are you?” She hissed in a raspy voice. “Good, because you’ve wasted enough to my time, boy.”

“You’re not just fighting me. I’ve also got this girl with me.” Akira lifted Kiki into his arms, who glared up at the giant spirit.

“You’re going to throw that little furball at me? Ha! I’m so scared!” She laughed.

“You should be.” Akira smirked. “Get her, Kiki!”

He threw the tenko at the centipede woman, who didn’t even try to move. Big mistake on her part, for as she flew through the air, Kiki’s body was suddenly engulfed in flames. When the flames blew off her, in place of the tiny feline was a massive creature the size of a tigerdillo. The enlarged tenko now had a large powerful body, with two long tails with flames flickering at their tips, large red eyes with black narrow pupils and a mouth sporting large fangs ready to tear into flesh.

The centipede woman was not expecting this transformation, and so she had no time to move before Kiki leapt onto her chest, digging her claws into the woman’s chest as she clawed at her face. The spirit flailed and cried out in pain, trying to pull the monster cat off her. Kiki wasted no time in trying to deal as much damage to her as she could before she jumped off. The spirit reached out to grab at the monster cat, but an air blast to the head caused her to slam into a light pole.

“Filthy animal!” She hissed, but was silenced by a rock to the face. As she staggered back Akira ran forward, and with some assistance from Hua, leapt up onto the spirit’s back and stabbed his blades into her spine. She howled and roared and struggled to get him off, but in her distraction, she didn’t see Jade limping behind her until she shot an air blade that bisected the woman at the waist.

The centipede woman’s howls stopped as her upper body was cleanly separated from her centipede half. Akira landed on the ground as her torso hit the uprooted street face first. Her lower half slowly dissolved as Akira walked up to her.

Akira walked up to the spirit and planted his foot onto her neck, pinning her down while making sure he didn’t choke her…yet. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She hacked at him and he dug his heel into her throat harder. “That was rude. I know even ugly spirits like you have some manners. Now tell me why you attacked us and I’ll leave you for the police to deal with. Piss me off and I’ll get creative.”

“Ha…your threats are nothing, boy.” The spirit coughed. “If this…is how strong you are, then I’m disappointed…to think you’re humanity’s bridge to our kind…”

The woman began to laugh at her, which Akira didn’t really appreciate. He stomped down on her throat one more time to make her gag before stepping back and stomping a foot on the ground, causing an earthen spike to shoot up from the ground and impale the spirit through the torso. Akira didn’t even wait for her body to vanish before he went over to the girls to see how they were doing.

“Lousy ghost bitch.” He muttered angrily. Kiki ran over to him and nuzzled her large head against his arm. He smiled and scratched her behind the ears, not even flinching as Kiki’s body was engulfed in flames and she returned to her small form. “You did good, girl. You’re getting better with those claws of yours.”

Kiki purred and tapped his arm with her tiny paws.

“You girls alright?” Akira asked Jade and Hua as they regrouped.

“Yeah, we’re good.” Jade scowled as she rubbed her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure this is going to bruise tomorrow.”

“Want me to kiss it to make it feel better?” Akira offered. Jade narrowed her eyes at him.

“Later. After your brother roasts us for starting two fights in the middle of the street.” She said.

Hua looked at the damages that were caused from their fight. Most of it was from the spirit’s rampage, but she knew they were still going to spend a lot of time at the police station giving their account of events. Spirit attacks of this magnitude were very rare, and the police would want this on record.

“I’ve never heard of a spirit openly attacking someone in public like this in the city.” Hua muttered. “What could’ve caused this?”

“Who knows, but I do know that we’re not going to get home until much later.” Jade could already hear the police sirens down the street. Akira, ever the optimist, merely shrugged.

“Look at it this way,” He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “At least we’re getting a ride home.”

XXXXXX

News of the fight in the street didn’t take long to spread, and it was already on the televiewer by the time Akira, Jade and Hua made it back to the Fa Family mansion that sat in the heart of Xian City. Aside from the more subtle spirit murders that were becoming increasingly common, this was the first open spirit attack that was actually witnessed by people. And the fact that the person being attacked was none other than the infamous second son of the Fa Family only made this news juicer.

And so Akira found himself standing in his father’s office, his older brother Jian standing by their father’s desk looking at his beloved little brother with that ever so critical gaze that only made Akira feel as tired as he looked. The office was large and spacy, with a clean, fresh smell to the wooden desk and chairs that made everything feel natural and comfy while maintaining an air of professionalism.

“If this is about that skirmish with Junpei, I just want to say that fat dimwit was the one who started it.” Akira said as soon as he entered the office. “I’ll even pay for the damages.”

“Akira, your rivalries are the least of my concern at the moment, though we will be talking about that in the future.” Said Xuan, patriarch of the Fa Family. He was a strong looking man for a guy in his fifties, and his body filled out his black suit nicely. His hair was short and slicked back, his beard as gray as his hair, giving him that wise leader appearance that Akira always associated his father with. His bright green eyes, a trait he shared with his sons and had inherited from his own mother, looked at his youngest son with a bit of exasperation, though mostly relief. “I wanted to talk about the spirit attack you came back from.”

“What’s there to talk about? Some spirit tried to start something with me and I put her down. That’s that.” Akira said with a shrug. “I tried getting answers from her, but she just laughed in my face.”

“Did he say anything about why he attacked you?” Jian asked.

“No, she wasn’t yapping surprisingly. The creepy Fire Nation nightmare did seem dead set on snuffing me out, though.” He replied, rubbing his chin. “Maybe I was just at the wrong place in the wrong time. The solstice is a few days away, so there’s that.”

Akira couldn’t hold back the yawn he gave and Xuan smiled. “We’ll talk about this in the morning, Akira. Go get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, aunt Maya and Yukino are coming over.” Akira sighed. “So glad to see her again.”

Xuan chuckled as Akira trudged out of the room saying good night to his brother and father. Once they were sure that he was gone, Xuan and Jian began to talk about more serious matters.

“I got a call from my contact.” Jian said. “Master Malu and a White Lotus representative have arrived at the Golden Lotus hotel.”

“Only one representative?” Xuan asked.

“Yes. Apparently she’s being more cautious around us this time around.” Jian said.

Xuan grunted and stood up from his chair, walking to the window to look out at the city that he lived in all his life. “So the time’s come. Those vultures certainly don’t waste any time.”

“They’re not taking any chances. I hear that the White Lotus has its hands full dealing with those terrorists, the Red Lotus.”

Xuan’s frown deepened at the mention of them. The Red Lotus-an anarchic group that broke off from the Red Lotus preaching a return to the natural way of things through the dissolution of borders and nations. They were most prominently known for their actions during the airbender resurgence, assassinating the Earth Queen and almost killing Avatar Korra. Xuan had heard whispers of their growing movement, splinter cells rising up in support of the Red Lotus or books describing what it is they want, trying to pain them in a positive light. Xuan had a feeling that their recent rise in activity was a result of the possible revelation of the Avatar’s identity, which had remained hidden for 16 years in order to protect him.

The Red Lotus said that they were just people who wanted to unite mankind and the spirits without the separation of nations or creeds, but to Xuan, they were just a bunch of terrorists who thought too highly of themselves. No different than those equalist frauds or the Primal worshipping cults that sprouted across the world following the Surge. People like that made him lose faith in humanity a little more every day.

“Have our people keep an eye out for any suspicious activity in the city.” Xuan said. “I don’t want any surprises for when the news does get out. If anyone even thinks about making a move against Akira, put them down as hard as possible.”

“Already done.” Jian nodded. He took a minute to think about his next words, before saying, “But father, you know that we won’t be able to protect him forever. Eventually he will leave this city, willingly or otherwise.”

“I know, and that’s what scares me.” Xuan sighed. For the outside world, he was a calm but ruthless triad leader who ruled Xian’s criminal underworld with an iron fist, keeping the less savory elements of criminal activity under lock and key. But behind closed doors, he was just a father trying to look after his two sons while every backwater crime boss tried to snuff his family out.

Xuan didn’t care what those White Lotus plebeians said, if anything happened to his son, he’ll make it his life’s mission to ensure that they never see the light of day again.

XXXXXX

_Avatar Korra Park didn’t really look like anything special to Akira. Sure it was big and green and very, very spacey, but aside from the cute little spirits that always seemed to hover around him, it just looked like a regular park. Maybe it was the statue of that odd blue lady he sometimes saw in his dreams. _

_ His father had said that he was lucky to get this chance, seeing as travel between the states was a bit limited due to some interference from the larger temperamental spirits that roamed the Earth Union countryside. Akira wasn’t complaining, being in Republic City was fun, even if he had to go with his father’s bodyguards all the time. At least Jian was with him to make things fun._

_ It was the middle of the day, and the little boy was just wandering around the pond chasing after a few puffball spirits that he discovered inside a rose bush. His older brother was walking behind him, keeping an eye on him while also giving him some space. After a full ten minutes or running and jumping (he was an energetic kid) Akira got tired and reluctantly gave the chase to the puffballs. As he plopped down on the soft grass to take a rest, he notice a large gray statue not too far from him. It was of a tall woman wearing clothes similar to the lady in his dreams. The boy realized that this statue was Avatar Korra, who he read about in his history class. _

_ Standing in front of the statue was an old woman. She was dressed in black, and though she looked frail, she stood tall and proud, though her shoulders sagged in sadness. She had long gray hair tied into a bun and a dark wooden cane in her hand that supported her as she looked up at the statue. _

_ ‘She looks really sad.’ Akira thought. He felt a pang in his chest, as if seeing this poor old woman look so sad and lost made him sad in turn. He didn’t know why; he had no idea who she is, and yet he was feeling as if he was watching someone close to him be in pain. _

_ “You should give her a hug.”_

_ “Huh?” Akira looked to his right and saw the blue lady from his dreams sitting next to him. “Oh, hi blue lady!”_

_ “Hey there, squirt.” The blue lady smiled. “Having a good time in the city?”_

_ “Yeah, it’s really cool here. Especially that huge glowing light thing.” Akira said. The blue lady chuckled._

_ “That’s called a spirit portal, Akira.” She looked over at the statue. “That woman looks really sad.”_

_ “She does. I wonder what’s wrong.” Akira hummed._

_ “Maybe you should go see.” She suggested. Akira looked up at her._

_ “Really?” He asked._

_ “Really. I’m sure she needs a hug.” She said. _

_ Akira thought about it before he smiled and nodded. “Okay.”_

_ Akira got up and ran over to the statue, not noticing that the blue lady was gone the minute he took his eyes off her. He toddled over to the old woman and held out his little arms, stumbling into her as he gave her a nice, big hug. The old woman gave a startled grunt as she took a step back from the sudden hug and looked down._

_ “Oh! Hello there.” She said, laughing a bit at the little boy. _

_ “Hi.” Akira grinned. Akira noticed that she had pretty eyes. _

_ “Not that I’m complaining about getting hugs from cute little boys like you, but what are you doing?” _

_ “I’m giving you a hug. You looked sad and I was told that hugs make everybody feel better.” He answered._

_ “Well, that’s true in most cases.” She smiled. “I have been feeling down today.”_

_ “Why?” _

_ The old woman took a moment to answer, looking back up at the statue of Avatar Korra. “Just remembering some people I’ve lost. Today is the birthday of someone very close to me, and I came here to think back on all the good times we’ve spent together.”_

_ That pang in Akira’s chest returned and he hugged the woman harder. “Do you miss her?”_

_ “Everyday.” She said, smiling sadly. She looked back down at him. “What’s your name?”_

_ “Akira. I’m here with my brother. He’s over there.” Akira pointed to the older boy who was walking towards them. “He’s watching over me for my dad.”_

_ “I see. Did he tell you come give me a hug?” She asked._

_ Akira shook his head. “No, the blue lady did.”_

_ “Blue…lady?” The old woman repeated, confused. Did he mean a woman dressed in blue?_

_ “Yeah, she told me that you needed a hug, so I came over here.” He said, not noticing her hesitation. He pointed at the statue behind her. “She looked like that, but she’s glowing blue, so I call her the blue lady.”_

_ The old woman’s eyes slowly grew wider when she realized what he was talking about. She struggled to form words for a moment, but when she was about to talk, Jian walked up to them. _

_ “Akira, stop bothering that lady. It’s time to go.” Jian said, taking Akira’s hand. He nodded to the old woman. “I’m sorry if my brother was bothering you, ma’am.” _

_ “No, no, it’s okay.” She said, clearing her throat. “Excuse, but is there any way I can speak to your father? I have something to talk to him about.”_

_ Jian tilted his head curiously. “I can pass a message to him, but he’s a busy man. Can I get your name?”_

_ “Asami,” The old woman said, smiling brightly as she felt younger than she had ever felt in the past decade. “Asami Sato.” _

XXXXXX

When Akira woke up the next morning, he found himself not inside his nice, comfy bed, but resting against a large tree out in his family’s garden. He was leaning against the tree trunk, but he didn’t feel stiff or itchy from the rough bark. Kiki rested in his folded legs, shifting a bit in her sleep.

His estate had a small garden in a clearing that right behind the mansion. It was nothing to extravagant, just a modest little quiet spot that Akira and sometimes Xuan would spend some time alone to think or relax. Akira found himself falling asleep under the massive tree that his mother had planted back when she and his father were dating.

‘Morning already?’ Akira thought. It took him a moment to remember what today was. “Oh yeah, today’s my birthday.”

A cute little meow caught his attention and he looked down to see Kiki waking up, her red eyes staring drowsily up at him.

“Good morning, little dude. Had a nice sleep?” Akira smiled down at the little tenko. Kiki mewled a bit before hopping off his lap to stretch a bit and took a walk around the garden.

“I figured I’d find you here.” Jade walked up to the tree, taking a moment to look up at the large tree before going over to her boyfriend. “How can you sleep under a tree and not break your spine like a twig?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “But it’s not that bad. You should try it sometime. Preferably with me.”

Jade rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “No, I’m good.”

Akira shifted his foot and caused a small earth bound to shoot up under Jade’s ankle, throwing her forward. She squeaked when she fell onto top of him and he settled her into his lap. Akira hugged her around the waist and put his chin on her shoulder.

“Nice of you to drop in.” He grinned, which turned into a grimace when she began pulling on his cheeks. “Ow, ow, mercy!”

“Stop playing around, dummy, your aunt and cousin are going to be here soon.” Jade scolded.

“Yay.” Akira groaned. Jade air lifted herself off the ground and did the same to Akira, who stood on his feet like a limp noodle.

Jade rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Come on, birthday boy, wash up so we can finally celebrate you becoming a man.”

Akira smiled and followed his girlfriend back inside, with Kiki strutting behind them half asleep.

XXXXXX

Birthday parties in the Fa Family weren’t your typical birthday cake and candles event. They were more akin to very fancy dinners or lunches where family members and high ranking triad members attended to celebrate the growth of the family head’s children. Jian had his fair share of gatherings, where he was presented to a number of girls for marriage in order to continue the Fa family line. Akira’s parties were as stiff as his brother’s, but they weren’t exactly happy hour.

Many of Fa Xuan’s old comrades, friends and subordinates arrived at the mansion to visit their leader. Among them was Jigen, Xuan’s childhood friend and one of his closest lieutenants. He arrived at the mansion first, and greeted Akira as if he were his uncle and not some old dude that he barely knew.

“Akira, happy birthday, young one!” Jigen said, smiling even though it didn’t match his lively tone. He walked up to Akira and clapped him on the shoulder. “Sixteen and already sporting a girl on your arm. You’ve certainly got more game than your father, that’s for sure.”

“Thanks, Jigan.” Akira smiled, though he was inwardly praying for this circus act to be done already. Even he could tell that his father drifted apart from his old friend after his mother’s death as a child. The smiles, the jokes, they were all just formalities to show respect to the triad leader’s son, even though Jigen probably thought he didn’t deserve it. Good thing Akira didn’t give a damn about what he thought.

Akira led Jigen inside, with Jade at his side clad in a black and white dress that hugged her slender form in just the right way that made him bite his lip when she wasn’t looking. She looked as bored as he felt, but she hid it well as the guests arrived. Hua was further inside helping Jian greet the guests as they entered the main hall.

“Here comes the wicked witch.” Jade sang in his ear. He barely stifled his laugh as the next car pulled up.

A slender leg slid out of the car, followed by a slender body belonging to a woman of astounding beauty. She had pale skin and long black hair that fell down her back. The woman had on a dark emerald green dress that hugged her curves and certainly flaunted her taste in clothing. On the other side of the car was a wheelchair, and sitting in it was a younger girl around Akira’s age with a white dress over her thin frame and shorter black hair. This was Akira’s aunt Maya and her daughter Yukino.

“Hey, Yuki!” Akira ran up to his cousin and bent down to give her a hug. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine, Akira. Happy birthday.” Yukino said sweetly, smiling up at her cousin. “Are you happy to be sixteen now?”

“I guess. I mean, I don’t feel any different, so it’s no big deal.” He shrugged.

“Nonsense, Akira, it means you’re becoming a man now.” Maya said, practically strutting up to her nephew with that ever present infuriating smile on her face. “You’re sure to get more responsibilities in the coming days after this. You’ll finally be contributing to the Fa family name.”

“Glad to make your day.” He replied. He quickly returned his attention back to his cousin as he rolled her wheelchair up the stone ramp he made just for her. “Come on, Yuki, Jian’s inside. He said that he couldn’t wait to see you again.”

“I’m sure he did.” Yukino giggled.

Jade smiled down at Yukino and nodded to her, ignoring the snub that Maya gave to her as she followed the pair inside. She was about to go inside when she noticed Hua standing at the bottom of the steps.

“Something wrong, Hua?”

“Those two people over there, by the front gates.” Hua nodded her head to the odd looking pair standing at the front gates to the mansion, trying to look inconspicuous while mingling in with the other guests. It was clear they didn’t belong there, and the other guests all associates of Xuan, knew that too.

Jade’s expression darkened when she noticed the Air Nomad robes, and her eyes gravitated towards the young man in the familiar robes.

“An Air Nomad and a White Lotus dude. Wonder what’re they here for.” Jade muttered. “Should we do something?”

“No,” Hua shook her head. “Master Xuan knows everyone who is coming to this party. He probably already knows that they are here as well. I’ll inform Jian just in case.”

“Shame, I was hoping to rough up a Nomad.” Jade grumbled, glaring at the woman. “Let’s go inside before my boyfriend makes his teeth rot from acting sweet to his cousin.”

XXXXXX

Akira wondered if his family modeled their birthday parties after ancient Earth Monarch coming of age ceremonies, because sometimes he felt as if a little too much work was put into these celebrations. His father wasn’t a man who flaunted his wealth or status among the upper echelons of the city’s rich and famous, but he certainly broke that rule a couple of times for his two sons.

After helping Yukino to her table, Akira stood to the side watching the guests mingle and chat with each other. Though it looked happy and carefree on the outside, these gatherings were usually meant to cement ties between partners and families under the Fa clan’s rule. The Iron Fan triad was composed of over five families that had close ties to the ruling Fa family. Xuan would use events like birthday parties to ensure that relationships between families and business partners were strong and showed no signs of cracks that could lead to trouble down the line. It was also meant to weed out the individuals who needed to be watched.

“Akira.” Jian walked up to him, his posture straight and strong as usual. He rarely smiled, but Akira could see the faint glint of amusement in Jian’s eyes as he stood next to him. “Enjoying the party so far?”

“A little, but standing here watching them reminded me that aside from aunt Maya and Yukino, none of these people are family.” Akira said. “A bit depressing when you think about it.”

“Well, we can’t all have large families like Fire Nation nobles.” Jian said and took a sip of his drink. “Are you feeling better after last night?”

“Yup, I’m doing fine.” Akira replied.

“Really? Most people would be looking over their shoulders after a spirit attack.” Jian commented with a raised eyebrow. Akira grinned up at him.

“I’m not most people.”

Everyone quieted down when they saw Fa Xuan take the stage, standing at the table in the front of the dining hall. He raised a hand for everyone to settle down before speaking.

“Let me begin by saying thank you to my family and friends, honored comrades under the Iron Fan banner for coming here today. I trust you’ve all had a peaceful year despite the growing unrest within the Earth Union.” Xuan said. “I am pleased to welcome you all to the celebration of my youngest son, Akira, turning sixteen today on the eve of the Summer Solstice. By the traditions of the Fa family, this means that he is of age to gain more influence within the Triad and its dealings.”

Akira took this as his cue to walk up to his father. Xuan smiled and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder as he addressed the crowd. “Akira may be my second born, but he has my blood in his veins. I know he will make our family, and our Triad, great in the eyes of the greater Earth Union-“

“Excuse me.”

A hush went over the audience as they all turned to the woman in Air Nomad robes standing in the center of the room. Xuan’s expression darkened as he looked at the woman, which surprised Akira. Jade and Hua also traded curious looks with the odd woman brave, or stupid, enough to dare interrupted the leader of the Iron Fan.

“I apologize for my rudeness and lack of manners, but time is of the essence. My name is Malu. I come here with a representative of the Order of the White Lotus to announce the identity of the next Avatar.”

The air in the room changed. There was still that strong layer of anger coming from Xuan and Jian, but many were now curious as to what this brave Air Nomad had to say before the Iron Fan leader struck her down for her impudence. Akira already knew what was coming as soon as she turned towards him and bowed her head.

“It is an honor to finally meet you in person, Avatar Akira.”

Silence. Everyone looked from Malu to Akira with wide eyes and disbelieving gazes. Jade and even Hua were shocked speechless, as was Kiki, the feline looking up at her master with wide eyes. Xuan looked like he was going to run the airbender through with an earth spear. The only one who didn’t seem shocked was Akira, who stared at Malu with an unreadable expression.

What Akira would say next would be historic for all the wrong reasons. It was a reply that only those close to him would expect at a time like this. Akira took a nice long drink of his father’s wine (vintage made from the Fire Nation) and after gulping down the last drop, he looked straight at Malu and said a single word.

“Nope.”


	2. Infiltration

Chapter 2-Infiltration

“Nope.”

Malu looked at Akira in surprise, not expecting that reaction. “I’m…I’m sorry?”

“Nope.” Akira shook his head. “You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“I do not.” Malu said calmly.

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“No.”

“Yes…” Malu growled and Akira smiled at the slip up. “Deny it all you want, Avatar Akira, but this has already been decided and proven by your father.”

“That’s a load of sabertooth moose-lion crap.” Akira bluntly said, starting to lose his patience. “Don’t think you can just walk into my home and start acting like you can say whatever you want. That’s a good way to get killed around here.”

“Mr. Akira, I’m sorry for my partner’s rudeness.” The White Lotus agent stepped up to speak. “My name is Genji, and I know it’s hard to believe but you really are the Avatar.” He said. Looking at the other guests in the room, and realizing that half of them probably had the capacity to kill him and Malu, he tried to move the conversation to another room. “Um, if we can just speak in private-“

“Yeah, get the hell out of my house.” Akira snapped his fingers. “Hua.”

Malu made to speak but froze when she felt the sharp edge of an iron fan pressed against her throat. She glanced to her right and saw Hua standing there, expression stone cold as she made Malu step back.

“It’d be wise to back away before you get yourself hurt.” Hua said.

“Hua, stand down.” Xuan ordered. Hua took her fan away and stepped back, giving Malu some room to breathe. “Master Malu, Genji, come to my office. You too, Akira. This is something you need to be present for.”

Akira rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “The world loves giving me the finger, doesn’t it?”

Kiki purred in agreement.

XXXXXX

“You’re lucky I didn’t bury you in the ground right then and there.” Xuan growled as soon as they entered his office.

Malu stiffened, but regained her confidence. “I’m sorry, Mr. Xuan, but I couldn’t stand by and waste any more time. The Avatar needed to be identified as soon as possible. Your stalling wasn’t helping matters.”

“Forgive me for wanting to give my son a proper birthday before you White Lotus vultures decided to swoop in and try to take him away.” Xuan replied, narrowing his eyes. “And you’ll show my proper respect inside my home or Avatar Aang’s bloodline will be left with one less airbender.”

Genji tensed his shoulders, keeping an eye on Jian, who stood close to his father’s side. Akira, who was standing by the window, cleared his throat to stop the growing argument before it got worse.

“Look, let’s all just calm down here, okay? Let’s start with something simple and make our way up from there, okay?” Akira turned to his unwelcome visitors. “First, introductions. Starting with the crazy airbender lady.”

“My name is Malu.” Malu glared at Akira. “I’m sure you’ve already heard of me. I’m Master Jinora’s daughter and leader of the Air Nation.”

“Charmed.” Akira said dryly. “And your bodyguard here is…”

“Genji, I’m an agent of the Order of the White Lotus. Master Malu brought me along because I was more familiar with the…lifestyle of Xian, being a former triad member myself.” Genji said, bowing his head to Xuan. “We genuinely didn’t come here to start any trouble, sir. It was just to inform the Avatar of his status before anyone else got to him.”

“You two seem really sure that I’m the Avatar, even though I’ve never been tested.” Akira said. “The Earth Union’s a big place after all, and thousands of children were probably already tested before me.”

Each nation had its own method of locating the Avatar, though some methods were revised following the Hundred Year War. When Avatar Korra died, not only did the White Lotus have to comb the entire Earth Union for her successor, taking cliff notes from Avatar Kyoshi’s time on being very thorough in their search, they also had to scout the United Republic as well. The world was much more connected than it had ever been in centuries, and they couldn’t take any chances.

“We did, at first.” Genji said. “When Avatar Korra reached the end of her life, she said that we were to be thorough in searching for the next Avatar. No child of Earth Union heritage should be overlooked, not even orphans or street urchins.”

“We were fortunate that our search didn’t last as long as it should’ve, or we probably would be facing a repeat of the misunderstanding that led to Avatar Kyoshi being overlooked.” Malu said. “It was thanks to you that we found our Avatar.”

“Me?” He frowned.

It was Jian who shed some light on the mystery. “Akira, do you remember when you were a kid? You had an imaginary friend that you called the blue lady.”

“Yeah, of course I do. Sometimes she would pop up when I was alone or just feeling…I don’t know, out of sorts, maybe?” Akira gave an annoyed shrug. “I was a kid. She could’ve been born from my imagination or some spirit that was attracted to me. It happens a lot to kids. Nothing strange about that.”

“Until you visited Republic City with your family. You suddenly hugged an old woman standing in front of Korra’s statue in Avatar Korra Park.” Malu continued.

Akira froze. He did remember that day. It was one of the few memories that stuck with him from his childhood. “Yeah, I…she looked sad. I just felt the urge to give her a hug.”

“That was Asami Sato, Korra’s wife. You wanted to hug her because you had a strong connection to her, just as Korra did.” She said. “And I take it this blue lady also told you to do so?”

Akira felt his throat tighten as he nodded mutely. He turned to Jian and Xuan, who looked neither surprised nor concerned about this revelation.

“Did…you two know about this?” He asked. Xuan looked down at his folded hands.

“Ms. Sato came to me that day, holding your hand and smiling. She didn’t seem concerned at all about meeting the leader of one of the Earth Union’s biggest triads. She told me that she thought that you were the Avatar and I called her mad. Then she started talking about your little encounters with your not-so-imaginary friend, and even I couldn’t deny the evidence.” He said. “You are the Avatar, son.”

Akira stared at his father as if seeing him for the first time. He looked at Jian and saw an uncharacteristically ashamed expression on his face. Neither brother nor father could look him in the eyes. Taking a deep breath to remain calm, Akira turned his back to his family and pushed past Malu to leave the room.

“Avatar-“

“You’re staying right here, Master.” Xuan said darkly. “We’re going to have a talk about boundaries while you remain in my city.”

Malu scowled but steeled herself for a lengthy conversation. This was going to be a long day.

XXXXXX

Akira’s scowl remained stuck to his face even as he sat in the shade of his mother’s tree. The air was warm and the weather pleasant, but it did little to curb his temper. Not even the feel of Kiki’s little paws tapping on his hand to ease his annoyance at how things went.

‘They show up at my birthday party and drop a bombshell like that without a damn care for who they’re talking to.’ Akira thought. ‘White Lotus or not, I would’ve gutted them like fish!’

“Wow, you look pissed.” Jade entered the garden and stood over him, hands on her hips and looking down at him like a scolding mother tempering her child. “I take it that little private talk didn’t go well?”

“What do you think?” He grumbled.

“Don’t get testy with me, Akira. Better simmer down or I’m having you sleep on the floor.” She said. Jade sat down next to him and pulled on his shirt to get him to lay his head down on her lap. Running her fingers through his long black hair, she looked into his green eyes and spoke to him. “So what happened?”

“It turns out dad and Jian both knew that I was the Avatar. Apparently my imaginary friend wasn’t as imaginary as I thought.” He said.

“Was it that hug you gave Asami Sato?” Jade said.

“Yeah, that and more. I don’t know why the hell the White Lotus is just now popping up to see me, but I guess that’s dad’s doing.” Akira groaned and ran his hands down his face. “What the hell am I going to do, Jade?”

“You don’t want this?” She asked.

“Of course not!” He yelled. “Jade, I’m a member of a family that has ties to theft, smuggling, bribery, and money laundering. That’s not the kind of environment the Avatar is born into.”

“You also forgot the sex industry.” Jade smirked. Akira rolled his eyes.

“That’s my aunt’s area of expertise, don’t pin that on me.” He said. “And how are you so calm about this?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It just makes sense to me as to why there are so many spirits in Xian. It’s because of you.”

“Great, that’s comforting.”

“It wasn’t. I’m just stating a fact.”

Akira closed his eyes and let himself drift off for a moment before he “felt” the light, fast-paced footsteps of his butler, Han, enter the garden.

“Apologies for disturbing your quiet time, Master Akira, but there’s a White Lotus agent here to speak with you. Shall I turn him away?”

Akira almost said yes, but something told him that it’d be better to talk to the only one who seems to know any manners. It might also give him an insight to who he was dealing with.

“Send him in.” He said.

Han nodded and left the yard, and seconds later, the White Lotus agent named Genji came walking along the stone path, taking a minute to look around at the beautiful garden before bowing his head to Akira and Jade.

“Avatar Akira, I’m so sorry for my partner’s actions. I told her we should’ve waited until after the party to address you, but she was a bit impatient this time around.” Genji said politely.

“I didn’t think Air Nomads knew how to be so damn impatient. What happened, her internal clock stopped working?” Jade said snidely. Akira patted her hand to get her to tone it down.

“No, there have been some…altercations on the way here. We were supposed to have made it to Xian a week ago but we were busy handling some issues with a couple of towns along the way.” Genji said.

“What kind of issues?” Akira asked.

“The kind the Avatar gets involved with.” He replied. Akira scowled and looked away. “Ava-“

“Akira.”

“…Akira, I know this isn’t the ideal way you were supposed to learn about being the Avatar, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are what you are. You’re the Avatar now, and that means you have a duty to the world, to humans and spirits alike.” Genji took a step forward and knelt down. “And now that you’re the Avatar, you’ll be required to learn the other three elements and be declared to the world at large.”

“Yeah, screw that. I have a duty here, to my family and the city we rule.” Akira said. “So sorry you had to come all this way for me to give you the finger, but no means no.”

“You don’t have a choice, Akira.”

“I don’t have a choice?” Akira stood up, prompting Genji to do the same as the boy stomped up to him and glared right into his face. “Who the hell do you think you are to tell me I don’t have a choice? I’m not going to have my life dictated to me because I can see dead people at the age of 10! So I’m the Avatar, great, that means everyone’s going to think twice about messing with the Iron Fan.”

Genji stared at Akira, and shook his head. “The White Lotus is not your enemy, Akira. And neither are we. We simply want to prepare you, the Avatar, to defend yourself and those you love from those who would threaten the world and its peace. Whether you like it or not, there are people out there that will waste no time in hunting you down for their own selfish deeds, and we want to prevent that.”

Akira was silent for a moment, not taking his eyes off Genji’s face. “You saw the attack on me last night.”

Genji nodded. “Yes.”

“And you think it wasn’t just some random attack.” He said.

“I don’t think, I know. Spirits have better senses than us; the more powerful ones can tell you’re the Avatar through various means. That attack on you was a planned attack at the behest of someone else who wanted you dead.”

“Well then, I’ll just have to kill them first.” Akira replied coolly. “Thank you for your time, Genji, you may leave now.”

“But what about-“

“I’ll worry about the training in the other elements. You worry about making it out of this city without getting mugged.” Akira nodded toward the door. “Good day.”

Genji saw that he wasn’t going to get very far with Akira, at least not right now, so he bowed his head and handed him a card. “If you need anything, just call me. We’re not too far away.”

Genji nodded to Jade and walked away with all the dignity of someone who wasn’t just snubbed by the Avatar himself. Akira and Jade stood there, both teens contemplating this new information differently.

‘What was he trying to say?’ Akira thought. ‘Is there going to be another attack on me?’

XXXXXX

“That could’ve gone better.” Genji remarked to an irate Malu. The Air Nomad woman had just gotten out of an almost hour-long lecture from Fa Xuan on “manners” and “etiquette”. She already had a scowl on her aging face. “I see you had your fair share of pain.”

“Shut up.” Malu grumbled. “How did things go with the Avatar?”

“He told me to get out, as expected, but I think he’s considering the kinds of threats that will come for him.” Genji said. “He knows as well as I do that if he doesn’t take this seriously, the people he cares about might get involved in attempts on his life. Despite his upbringing, I can tell he cares a lot about his family.”

“That’s not surprising. The Iron Fan are known for their familial loyalty.” Malu said. Genji gave her a look.

“Don’t think you’re getting off the hook. What was that back there? I thought we said that we were going to take it slow? Try not to provoke a triad that employs airbenders as assassins.”

Malu’s face scrunched up at the mention of that. “I know, but…I just got a call from the White Lotus outpost in Republic City. There’s been an attack.”

“What?!” Genji looked at her shocked. “How?”

“A spirit snuck into the compound and exploded in the watchtower. Five people killed, three seriously wounded. Republic City’s on high alert and security around President Aramaki has been increased.” Malu looked down at her feet.

“Is your brother…?”

“He’s fine, but it was a close call. However, the attack has everyone on high alert.” She replied. “I’m all for taking things slow, Genji, but this attack means that the Red Lotus is making their move. They might already know why we’re here.”

Genji bit his lip. “I’d ask how they would already know, but that answer’s obvious. But Malu, this is a delicate situation. These people don’t take kindly to having outsiders cut into their private business. We need to avoid antagonizing them or they’ll be the one’s we’re fighting.”

“I know.” Malu sighed. “Will he at least meet with us?”

“It will take some time. Hopefully, he’ll let us teach him before the Red Lotus makes their move on him.” Genji said. “All we can do is keep a close eye on him and keep him safe.”

Malu nodded and looked down the street, her mind already wandering deep into her thoughts. She disliked rushing through delicate situations such as these, and she hated the fact that the Avatar wouldn’t even listen to them, but right now she had to slow down or she’ll risk making an enemy of the most powerful man in the world.

XXXXXX

Xuan knew that as soon as the White Lotus agents left the estate, he was going to be assaulted with questions by his subordinates, especially his friend Jigen and his sister Maya.

“When were you going to tell us that your son is the Avatar?” Maya demanded in his office.

“I wasn’t.” Xuan said crossly. “And I certainly didn’t intend for Akira to know at his birthday part of all places.”

“Well, that little incident aside, I think this is perfect for us.” Jigen said. Both Fa siblings looked at him.

“Come again?” Maya asked.

“Xuan, your son is the Avatar. That automatically puts our triad at the top in the entire Earth Union. No, the world!” The excitement on Jigen’s normally dour face unsettled Xuan. “No one will dare mess with the Iron Fan with the Avatar in our ranks.”

“No.” Xuan’s answer was hard and fast. “Don’t even finish that thought. Akira is not some superweapon, he is my son.”

“I know that, Xuan, but he is also the Avatar. He has great political influence on the world stage. We could take over the entire underworld in this nation alone if he becomes a fully realized Avatar. No one can touch us!”

“You’re not going to convince me to use my own son as some political tool. Whether or not he begins his Avatar training is his choice. I will not force him to do anything.” Xuan said. Before Jigen even opened his mouth, he gave the man a hard stare. “And before you continue arguing, Jigen, keep in mind who is in charge here. He is my son, not yours. Am I clear?”

The muscles in Jigen’s jaw visibly tensed as he held back from saying anything insulting to his leader. He nodded and bowed his head. “Crystal, sir.”

Xuan nodded and sat back in his chair. At that point, someone knocked on the door. “Dad? It’s me.”

“Come in, Akira.” Xuan said, and looked at Jigen and Maya. “We’ll speak later. Leave us.”

Jigen turned and left without a word, only pausing to let Akira in before marching down the hall. Maya followed after him, not even glancing at Akira as she left. Akira snorted and closed the door behind him.

“What was that about?” He asked.

“Just some…disagreements. The result of an Air Nomad not knowing when to keep her mouth shut.” Xuan replied.

Akira sat down across from his father and took Kiki into his lap, petting her soft fur as they sat in silence. Eventually, Xuan began the conversation.

“I know you have questions,” Xuan said. “Just know that I didn’t intend for you to know this way.”

“Were you going to tell me at all?” Akira asked.

“Of course. Being the Avatar is not something that can kept secret for long. If you didn’t find out yourself, I’m sure some spirit would’ve revealed your true nature. They’re more sensitive to these kinds of things.” Xuan answered. Akira shifted in his seat.

“I don’t really have any questions about how did you know. That’s pretty self-explanatory. Seeing the spirit of my past life for part of my childhood kind of cements it.” He said. “How come you never told me, though?”

“Mostly because you weren’t ready. Partly because I was afraid.” Xuan admitted, to his son’s surprise. It wasn’t every day that you hear a man as hard as the earth he bends admit to being afraid of anything, especially your father. “I didn’t want the White Lotus coming onto you like vultures and exposing you to the public yet. I have little faith in their ability to protect you, and recent events in Republic City have proven that.”

Xuan looked at his second son and leaned forward. “There are threats to your life both human and spirit that will seek to control or kill you for being the Avatar. If the White Lotus was willing to barge into our home so bluntly, then someone must be wrong. I know I always say that as members of the Iron Fan, that we are stronger than diamond, but there are those in this world who aren’t intimidated by our status. You being the Avatar will not deter them, only attract them.”

“…What are you trying to say?” Akira inquired softly. Xuan took a deep breath and looked directly into his eyes.

“Akira, as much as I wish it wasn’t true, the reality is that you are the Avatar. That automatically paints a target on your back. I know you want to contribute to the Iron Fan as much as Jian, but I also want you to be ready to combat any threat that comes your way, do you understand?” Xuan’s eyes were as hard as jade, unbreakable in their attention on Akira. “Whether or not you train in the other three elements is up to you. I will not force you, I will not order you to do anything, but what you do next is your choice entirely.”

“I…” Akira didn’t know what to say. His father was basically letting him take charge of this situation, which was a bit more nerve wracking that he thought. Whatever he did, it was his choice and his choice alone? What responsibility!

Growing up, Akira had always known that his father was a very critical man. The White Lotus, the Air Nation, even the Avatar…Fa Xuan was a man who made his opinions on popular topics known without a care for what anyone else thought, and not all of them were well-received.

“Thanks, dad. That might be one of the only times I’ll get to hear something like that.” Akira smiled. “Is it alright if I think about this for a while?”

“Sure, there’s no rush.” Xuan nodded. “Just remember, whatever your decision, make sure to stay safe. You’ll find that there are more enemies than allies around you these days.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, dad. Thanks.”

XXXXXX

The Golden Lotus hotel was a five star hotel that catered to only the wealthiest of guests. It was an expensive place to stay at, and anyone who had enough money to pay for more than a single night there was someone who had a lot of money in their pockets. That someone was not Malu.

Being the leader of the Air Nation, great granddaughter to Avatar Aang and having connections to the White Lotus apparently wasn’t up to the Golden Lotus’s status of a paying customer. She had enough of this nonsense back in Republic City, and she wasn’t having it in a hotel that catered to criminals in fancy suits and top hats.

It was fortunate that she at least had the foresight to bring Genji along. Being born in a Fire Nation noble family meant that he had the pocket change to use on missions. Which was good considering that they were probably going to have to stay in Xian longer than usual.

_“…We’re on the scene right now as local police and firefighters try to deal with an uncontrollable blaze that has suddenly ignited in the building right next to police headquarters. The cause of this inferno is unknown, but there is strong evidence that a spirit is behind the blaze that is currently threatening Xuan City police HQ…”_

The faint voice of the dolled up news reported droned on the televiwer as Malu was called up her little brother, Fan, who was back at Republic City managing Air Temple Island in her place. She didn’t like spending too much time from her family.

“I’m doing fine, Fan. I’ve just hit a bit of an obstacle in regards to the Avatar.” Malu said, leaning against the dresser. Genji was sitting on the couch watching the news as he waited for room service to arrive with their lunch.

_“Did something happen?” _Fan asked on the other line.

“No, but he’s being really uncooperative. His family isn’t being much help either.” She said.

_“Yeah, swooping in like a tornado and dropping a bombshell like that isn’t a good idea both on and off paper. You got to rein that temper in, sis.”_

“Thank you, Fan, I’ll get right on top of that. I’ll put it on the list next to training the Avatar and dealing with these accursed spirit attacks.” Malu huffed. Her frowned deepened upon hearing her brother laugh.

_“Sucks to be you, sis.” _He sang. _“Try not to tick off the Earth Union triads any more than you’ve already have, okay? You’ll make cousin Jinie sad if you die before her.”_

“That’d be a first.” She remarked. “I got to go. I’ll call you back in a couple of days once everything’s settled down. Tell Jinnie I said hi.”

_“Will do. Oh, and brace yourself. The Demon Baby is on her way too.”_

Malu felt her heart freeze over. “What?!”

_“Yeah, she’s going to reach Xian in a few days. Better get the Avatar on your side before they meet or we’ll have a natural disaster on our hands. Toodles!” _

Fan hung up and Malu was left standing there with the dial tone droning in her ear. With a weary sigh she placed the phone down and trudged to the living room.

“How’s Fan doing?” Genji asked.

“He’s doing okay. Things are a bit tense in Republic City, but all’s well on Air Temple Island.” Malu said. “Fair warning, though, the Demon Baby is on her way, without telling me.”

Genji winced. “Oh boy.”

“Yeah, that’s one more headache to deal with.” She sighed.

There was a knock on the door. “Room service.”

“How about we all just relax and have something to eat. This isn’t something we can force no matter how hard we try.” Genji grinned at her. “Be the leaf, you know?”

Malu smiled at that as she opened the door to let the hotel worker in. She noticed that he glanced at her and Genji for a bit before giving them their food, but she just chalked it up to having seen an Air Nomad for the first time in person. Her mood brightened up when she saw the large potato salad sitting there for her to devour, right next to Genji’s order of spicy turtle-duck with rice. Fire Nation natives did love their spicy food after all.

“Thank you.” She said to the waiter, who bowed and left the room. “Genji, get your food before it cools down.”

“In this heat? Please, Malu.” Genji chuckled and snatched up his plate.

Malu was munching on her salad when she realized that there was a faint ticking noise coming from somewhere. She furrowed her brows and looked around, trying to find the noise. Being an airbender, she was a bit more sensitive to noise than the average person, and her father had taught her how to hear even the tiniest sounds via vibrations in the air. It was a technique she had perfected and refined over the years.

This very same technique was setting off her danger senses.

Malu looked back at the cart the waiter had left behind and found the ticking coming from there. She zipped over to it and pulled up the sheet, revealing bright red digital numbers counting down on a clock that was five seconds away from hitting zero.

“GENJI!” Malu shot forward and wrapped her arms around Genji’s body before sending an air blast to shatter the windows. Surrounding themselves in a cocoon of air, Malu and Genji flew out the window just as the clock hit zero and their hotel room exploded in a large burst of flames. The blast sounded like thunder in their ears even as they descended onto the street, falling on top of each other as glass rained down from above.

Malu sat on her hands and knees trying to get the ringing out of her head while people screamed and ran away. She felt a hand on her back and looked up to see Genji kneeling down next to her.

“Malu! Malu, can you hear me?” He asked. Malu gave a shaky nod.

“Y-Yes, I can hear you. But my ears…” She winced and slowly stood up with his help. “We were still too close to the explosion. I can barely hear anything.”

“A bomb...someone must really want us dead.” Genji looked up at the hotel room they just jumped out of. Their room was on the second floor, so they didn’t jump very far, though the place was in flames now. People were scrambling out of the hotel lobby, staff and guests alike, and he could hear firefighter engines in the distance. “Please don’t tell me that the Avatar’s family tried to snuff us out.”

“No, they’re not that bold. This was an inside job.” Malu said. She looked over at Genji and saw a man standing across the street in a familiar stance. “Genji, dodge!”

Genji jumped away without a word just as the man shot a bolt of lightning at him, blasting a large hole in the street. Malu jumped through the smoke and sent an air kick at the man, who dodged and sent a flaming arc at her. Malu spun her body to create a funnel of wind around her and directed it towards the firebender, entrapping him in an uncontrollable spin that threw him into the side of a delivery truck.

“Genji, we need to get out of here before-“ A loud bang shot through the air before Malu felt a strong pain in her left arm that staggered her. She cried out and stumbled back, just barely dodging the additional two small projectiles that were fired at her head.

In her attack on the firebender, she missed the black van that had appeared down the street, blocking any cars or trucks from coming and going. Five men wearing black body armor and red spiral masks wielding assault rifles flooded out of the van and were open firing on Malu and Genji.

Genji pushed her behind him as he shot large fire blasts at the gunmen. They were forced to take cover from the hot wave of flames that licked at their faces, but they were still intent on shooting them down. Genji had to be careful not to let those rubber bullets shoot through his flames or he’ll be worrying about red hot rubber projectiles hitting his body.

“Damn, where did they come from?” Genji growled.

“This was a coordinated attack. They must have been keeping tabs on us.” Malu said. The spot on her arm where the bullet hit was throbbing painfully, and she was sure it was going to bruise later on. “Look out!”

Malu got behind Genji and waved her arms, creating a strong gust that deflected the large rock that was thrown at them. Down the street opposite of the gunmen came two more black-clad men charged at them. Two earthbenders who were tearing up large chunks of concrete to attack the pair with.

“They must really want us dead.” Genji remarked as he slowly advanced on the gunmen. His flames were still keeping them on the defensive, but if he let up on his assault, they’ll shoot him down. Where the hell were the police?

Malu was also making her way towards the earthbenders. She glided across the ground dodging rocks and stone spikes shooting up from below. When one of the men tried to impale her on a stone spear he drew from the ground, Malu caught it in a mini-tornado and sent it back at him, slamming the spear against his head. The second earthbender tried to attack, but stared to gag as a metal cable wrapped itself around his neck and yanked him right off his feet.

“Huh?” Malu took a step back as two men in black suits restrained the earthbenders in metal cables and knocked them out with hard blows to the face. She tensed up when they turned to her, but then they held up their hands.

“Relax, air lady, we’re here to help.” One of them said.

“Help? Who sent you?” She demanded.

She got her answer when the sound of crunching metal came from over where Genji was fighting the gunmen. The black van had been impaled right through the middle by a large stone spike that burst from the ground.

Startled, the gunmen spun around, only to find the ground under them heating up and melting. They scrambled back onto cars or whatever they climb upon, and screamed as the intense heat of the lava rose up. A single figure walked around the impaled van and glared at the armed assailants. It was Fa Jian.

“You have some nerve starting such nonsense on my little brother’s birthday.” Jian said with a hard edge in his voice. “And I thought all the riff raff hovered around the UR.”

“Back off!” Shouted the man standing atop a taxi, which was now sitting on a bed of molten rock that had burned through the tires and was now eating away at the undercarriage. He pointed his rifle at Jian’s head. “Even if you catch us we’ll never talk!”

“Then it’s a good thing I don’t actually need you alive, is it?” Jian said. He thrust his arms forward and the metal of the cars the men were standing on clamped around their legs and feet, trapping them in place. “Xian has no need for anymore trash dirtying its streets.”

Genji took a step back as Jian raised his arms and brought up a wall of lava above the screaming men. When the lava descended upon them, Genji had to look away so as to not witness five men being burned alive right on the spot. Their screams, however, weren’t so easy to ignore.

As this horror show was going on, Jian was walking around the lava pool he created to address Genji. He hardly seemed winded from taking out five men at once, nor did he seem to care about how he dispatched them. That type of coolness wasn’t something you’d see in an earthbender and it was a bit disturbing.

“Are you unharmed, Agent Genji?” Jian asked.

“I’m…I’m fine, thank you. But Malu took a hit to her arm after we escaped the bomb.” Genji said.

“I see. There’s an ambulance on the way, and I’ve already informed the police on what just occurred here. It seems they were held up with a spirit attack that almost destroyed the police station.” Jian glanced back at what used to be the burning corpses of the gunmen. “Apologies about that gruesome display. There is a reason that father doesn’t put me on trash duty.”

“You think?” Genji said, feeling a bit breathless.

“Genji!” Malu ran over to him, still favoring her left arm. “Are you-“

“I’m okay, Malu, but we better get that checked out.” Genji said.

Malu nodded and looked at the two earthbenders that were still unconscious. “What about those two? Are we handing them over to the police?”

“No, we will be taking them.” Jian said. At the looks he got from Genji and Malu, he said, “Someone tried really hard to kill you two today, and they’re most likely hiding among the populace and possibly the authorities. Right now, we of the Iron Fan are your only friends.”

“Your father was quick to kick us out earlier, and now he wants us to be friends?” Malu looked at Jian suspiciously. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Jian, who was already walking towards his limo, looked over his shoulder at the master airbender. “Because my brother will need your help to navigate his so-called destiny. You say you want to help him? Well, time to prove it.”

Malu and Genji looked at each other. Neither of them said it, but Xuan was quickly becoming the worst city they’ve ever visited in their lives.

XXXXXX

“I can’t believe Akira is the Avatar, mom!” Yukino squealed, squirming a bit in her wheelchair. Maya gave a noncommittal grunt in response as she held the short green dress up to her in the mirror. “Don’t you think it’s cool, mom? He’ll be famous!”

“Please don’t blurt it out, honey. It’s supposed to be a secret.” Maya said, frowning at her reflection. “Excuse me, sales girl? Do you have this in purple?”

Yukino was so excited about the news that not even her mother’s usual nonchalance got her mood down. Her older cousin, the Avatar; it was felt like a dream. She read all about Avatar Korra, from reading her memoirs to watching documentaries about her. She was the kind of woman that Yukino wanted to be when she grew older, despite not being able to walk. The idea of Akira joining the long line of Avatars that have changed the world made her giddy.

“Ms. Fa, please settle down. You’ll tire yourself out.” Said Yui, her personal helper.

“I’m sorry, Yui, I just can’t sit still. Oh, if only I could tell my friends about it.” Yukino sighed. “Do you think Akira will have his own biography, like Avatar Korra?”

“It’s not my place, to speculate, ma’am, but I think your cousin needs to have some notable accomplishments under his belt if he wants to measure up to his predecessor.” Yui said.

“Yuki, dear, stop daydreaming and focus.” Maya walked over to her daughter with her new dress in hand. “I’m trying to pick a new dress for you. Feel free to choose anything here…so long as it’s purple.”

“Yes, mother.” Yukino groaned.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Are you Fa Maya?”

Maya turned to the young man walking up to them. He was a handsome youth, though he wore a bit too much leather on his pants and jacket. His hair was slicked forward in a sharp widow’s peak that didn’t do his already angular face any favors, and his amber colored eyes shined with mirth at some unspoken joke. All in all, the teen looked like a hoodlum, and Fa Maya didn’t deal with hoodlums.

“Yes, I am.” Maya said curtly. “And who are you?”

“Kran. I’m visiting Xuan with my sister Kra, and I just wanted to see the big man’s twin sister in person.” Kran smirked. “I’ve got to say, I’m not impressed.”

Maya was tempted to fling a metal plate at his neck and choke him on the spot, but she restrained himself. “If you know what’s good for yourself, boy, you’ll watch your mouth. Yukino, we’re leaving.”

Maya strutted past Kran, who grinned at her retreating form as if hearing a funny joke. Yui wheeled Yukino past him, and the girl looked away from his intense and uncomfortable gaze. Kran chuckled and turned around.

“Wait, before you leave, can you tell me where Fa Akira is?” He asked. “I’ve never seen the Avatar in person before, and I wanted it to be the highlight of my visit to the city.”

Maya paused and slowly turned around, her green eyes narrowed as she glared at the boy. Suddenly this strange boy seemed a bit more threatening, and the increasing temperature in the store wasn’t helping her attitude. Why was it so hot in here? “How did you know about that, boy?” She demanded.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kran replied and snapped his fingers.

Seconds later, the clothing store was engulfed in flames as an explosion ripped the interior apart, blasting out windows and burning the clothes to cinders. Fa Maya and her daughter Yukino were the closest people at its epicenter.


	3. The Declaration

Chapter 3-The Declaration

As the afternoon went on, and the sun started to set, Akira, Jade and Hua decided to spend the boy’s birthday the typical way they spent the nights before the weekend-hanging out at a restaurant and drinking themselves silly.

The trio sat in a booth Akira reserved for the three of them, eating their worries away with their favorite dishes. Akira just had himself some steamed elephant koi and spicy ramen noodles, Jade went straight for the roast duck and bison steak (for an airbender, Jade was a natural born carnivore), and Hua just got some komodo chicken with a dozen sweet dumplings (she loved her dumplings). The three friends were halfway through their lunch when they talked about random things that didn’t involve Akira being the reincarnation of the world’s most powerful being.

“No, I’m serious. The guy actually wrestled with a sky bison. A fully grown one.” Akira said. “They showed it on TV, I don’t know what’s so hard to get about that.”

“It’s because no one can safely handle a wild sky bison with their bare hands without getting a couple of broken bones, if not get outright killed.” Hua said, sipping her jasmine tea. She made a little face at the taste. It wasn’t bad, but compared to the Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se, this wasn’t up to snuff.

“And a nonbender? Please, Akira, you should know better than that.” Jade said.

“No, I’m serious. I mean, it wasn’t as if he was some ordinary dude. He was a martial artist who founded a school based around this new martial art. It’s, um…damn, I forgot the name.”

“Shows how interesting it was.” Jade muttered. Akira pinched her cheek with one hand while feeding some smoked komodo-dragon to Kiki with the other. “Stop pinching me!”

“I’ll stop when you stop dissing your boyfriend.” He replied. “All I know about the style is that it uses chi to enhance the body or something. I was eight when I saw it, get off my back.”

“I do remember hearing of a sect of monks in the Fire Nation capable of breaking stone with their bare hands. They’re very secretive of their techniques, though. I don’t know how much of those stories is true.” Hua said.

“See? It’s not fake.” Akira smirked.

“It’s also not real.” Jade said.

“Well I’m not wrong, so ha!” Akira started pulling on her cheek again, making Jade growl and yank at the sides of his mouth.

“I told you to stop pinching me!”

Hua shook her head and calmly scarfed down an entire dumpling without pause. Her cheeks puffed out as she ate her dumpling, and some nearby customers couldn’t help but giggle discreetly at the sight. Hua didn’t pay them any attention. She had her dumplings and all was right with the world.

“So, Akira,” Jade gave her boyfriend a cautious glance as they settled down. “Have you put some thought to your…situation?”

Akira made a face and stopped eating. Kiki gave a little meow in his lap and he scratched at her ears. “I…I’m thinking about it. Not exactly something I can drink away with some fire whiskey.”

“Being the Avatar is not something you can run away from.” Hua said, looking at Akira with her cool gaze. “Sooner or later, someone or something is going to come for you. That spirit attack last night was just the first of it.”

“I know, damn it!” Akira growled. He immediately calmed himself down. “I’m sorry, Hua, I’m just really stressing out about this. All I wanted to do was work my way up in the Iron Fan. Be like Jian, you know. Now this crap comes up and I’ve got everyone from White Lotus agents to nasty spirits looking to get a piece of me.”

“Well, maybe you should dive into it on your own terms.” Jade suggested. “I mean, if you learn the other elements, few people will want to screw with you.”

“Right, because that worked for Korra.” He drawled. Jade placed a hand on his cheek and turned his head so that he was looking at her.

“Akira, I don’t like seeing you act like this. You never worry too much about things. You said it gives you gray hairs faster.” She said. “So you’re the Avatar, that’s big, I get it. But no one said that you had to be some goody two-shoes, law-abiding savior of the world. Put your own spin on being the Avatar.”

“My own spin?” He hummed.

“Avatar Kyoshi didn’t become famous for being merciful. Her body count is probably the largest of any Avatar within the past 400 years.” She grinned.

That…actually sounded pretty good. Akira smiled as he ran the idea through his head; put his own spin on being master of the elements. Just keep being himself, but with a lot more power.

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right, Jade. Why should I let these guys toss me around on how to be the Avatar? I’m Fa Akira, son of Fa Xuan of the Iron Fan. The greatest gang in the entire Earth Union!” Akira nodded and stood up from his seat. “Ain’t no one gonna punk me around, friend or foe!”

“Hell yeah!” Jade hollered and grabbed his shirt to pull him down into a deep kiss.

“I’m so glad I have you as my girl!” Akira breathed as they broke apart. “You’re hot, babe!”

“I know I am, babe!” Jade shot back and they resumed kissing.

‘I’m surrounded by psychopaths.’ Hua thought as she sighed. Honestly, how was he related to two of the most stoic men in the triad?

Their fun was cut short when a man wearing a green jacket with the Iron Fan’s symbol ran up to their table, looking out of breath and panicked. “Mr. Akira, sir!”

Akira looked at the poor man. “What’s wrong? Does my dad want me back?”

“It’s…” The messenger struggled to catch his breath. “It’s your aunt and cousin…there’s been an attack…”

Any good feelings Akira felt were blown away like leaves in a hurricane.

XXXXXX

Akira never had a good relationship with his aunt. He knew that when they were children, Xuan and Maya were as close as twins could be, growing up in a crime family that grew to great heights thanks to their great grandmother, who was supposed to have been an officer in the defunct Earth Empire (or so Maya bragged). As they got older, they drifted apart somewhat, but things really snowballed when Xuan met his wife, Himiko, who was from the Fire Nation.

Being a strong nationalist, Maya saw Xuan marrying Himiko as “tainting” their noble Earth Kingdom bloodline, and Xuan promptly gave her the finger on many occasions. Maya probably would’ve mocked Himiko’s passing had Xuan not threatened to sell her to a backroom human trafficking ring and make sure that she was little more than a shell of herself when the dregs of society were done playing with her (he would’ve done it too. Heaven help the poor souls who mess with Xuan on a personal level).

She disliked Jian and really disliked Akira, but the real insult to her personal honor was that her daughter, who was an earthbender who couldn’t even walk, loved her cousins. Akira could only imagine the rage she must have felt upon learning that his second born was the Avatar. Akira grinned at the thought of her gnashing her teeth in anger at the news.

But seeing her in a coma in the hospital didn’t feel very victorious at the moment. Somehow Maya survived the explosion, but her entire body was covered in serious burns. She was wrapped in bandages from head to toe and hardly looked like the typical beauty who strutted along downtown promising younger men a good time and lighter wallets. She looked weak, vulnerable.

‘Still looks better than Zuko, though.’ Akira thought with a grimace. Or at least he hoped so. With the amount of burns on her body, Maya would’ve been blessed if all she had was sensitive pink skin instead of rugged burns that felt like leather to the touch.

He was sitting on the bench outside of Maya’s hospital room, with Jian leaning against the wall next to him. Jade and Hua sat on either side of the brothers, discreetly keeping an eye out on anyone who walked by them. This gave Akira and Jian room to talk.

“The worst has passed, though she’ll be out for at least a week, if not longer. Her ear drums are damaged, though it isn’t clear how affected her hearing will be until she wakes up. The less I say about the severe burns, the better.” Jian said.

He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yukino’s helper, Yui, died in the explosion. She took the brunt of it to protect her. She was dead before any help could come.”

“And Yukino?” Akira whispered.

“Gone. There was no sign of her at the store, no blood, no body, nothing. All that was left was a mangled wheelchair.” Jian replied. “Father is looking into it with the police, but it’ll take some time before we get any answers.”

“A kidnapping.” Akira ran a hand down his face. “Who the hell would have the sky bison balls to attack a member of the Fa family in broad daylight like this?”

“We don’t have a name, and he’s a new face around these parts. All we can gather from the footage is that he’s a firebender.” Jian said. “A combustionbender, to be precise, though not a very powerful one considering our aunt is still alive. We approached Maya with a purpose, and that purpose is clearly to kidnap Yukino.”

“For what? Ransom?” He asked.

“Maybe…or maybe it has something to do with another event that occurred not long before this.” Jian muttered. Akira glanced up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Our White Lotus friends were attacked at their hotel this afternoon. Their assailants are unknown for the time being, and their doing a good job resisting my interrogation methods, but they were well-equipped to combat two master benders such as them.” Jian looked at his brother. “They might have an idea on what we’re dealing with.”

“Good.” Akira said darkly and stood up. “Because I’m losing my patience with these bastards running around in my city.”

XXXXXX

“You didn’t have to destroy the entire store, you nimrod.”

“For heaven’s sake, Kra, get off my back.” Kran groaned. “We got the girl, that’s enough, right?”

His sister, Kra, shook her head in exasperation and focused on healing the paraplegic girl her twin brother snatched up. The girl had survived the initial explosion with relatively light wounds, namely burns that might scar but weren’t overly damaging to her condition. Just a few sessions of healing would be enough to take care of the worst of her injuries. She was still in one piece and that’s what mattered.

“Now all we have to do is send a note to the Avatar and he’ll come running to us.” Kra said once she was done healing the girl.

“You make it sound so easy.” Kran said. “The guy’s a master earthbender and a metalbender.”

“Both of which can be solved by dragging his ass up into the air. Come on, bro, I know it’s impossible for you, but use your head.” Kra grinned at her brother’s growing aggravation. “He’s a good fighter, but without those little airbender harlots that hang on his arm, he’s nothing.”

“Tell that to the five men his brother burned alive.” Kran muttered. He had no idea that Fa Jian was a lavabender, and seeing that man engulf a group of men in lava without a second thought honestly disturbed him.

“I wasn’t counting on those bozos to score a kill on the airbender and her Fire Nation bodyguard. But of course they didn’t bother listening to my warnings, stupid bastards.” Kra muttered. “They got what was coming to them for being so cocky.”

Kran rolled his eyes at her ranting and walked over to the phone. “I’m going to call up the airship. You gonna sit there muttering to yourself all night or are you going to send the note?”

“Huh?” Kra blinked. “Oh yeah, right. I’ll get on it.”

Kran left her to her business and left the room to get a drink. Checking the time, he saw that it was almost night. This plan had phases to it, but all this waiting was getting him impatient. He wanted to capture the Avatar and get the hell out of this cursed city before the entire Iron Fan came down on them in vengeance.

‘If we manage to score this mission, then we’ll be living big in the organization.’ Kran thought. ‘Yeah, maybe I’ll even get a handshake from the Grand Lotus himself. That’d be neat.’

Kran sat at the table chugging down his soda pop while waiting for the main event to start, lost in his dreams of glory.

XXXXXX

Genji and Malu were sitting in the Fa family mansion’s living room, having been escorted from the hospital after Malu got her arm patched up. They had spoken at length with Xuan on the attack, but he suddenly had to attend to other matters that sprang up. Judging from the erratic way the servants were acting, it wasn’t anything minor either.

“Why do I get the feeling something else big just happened?” Genji murmured.

“Our arrival in this city is just rife with excitement, isn’t it?” Malu sighed. Her keen ears heard loud footsteps marching down the hall from the front door and she took a deep breath. “Brace yourself, Genji. We have company.”

The doors slammed open and Akira marched into the room, his face marred by an angry scowl. He made a direct path straight for Malu and stood over her as he made his intentions clear.

“My aunt and cousin were attacked by a combustionbender earlier. My aunt’s in a coma and my cousin was kidnapped by the ash spitting bastard.” Akira said. He didn’t raise his voice, but that only made his anger more tangible. “This mess started when you two came into my city and start throwing your stuff around like we were supposed to adhere to your commands. First the spirit attack, then the bombing, and now this. Someone wants me, and they definitely want you two dead, so you better tell me who the hell I’m dealing with before I start getting impatient.”

Malu calmly looked up at Akira before nodding and getting to her feet. “Very well, Avatar. We’ll come clean.” She said. “First, do you know of the Red Lotus?”

“Of course I know about them. They’re the closest anyone’s come to killing Avatar Korra.” Akira said. “They’re a bunch of anarchists that broke off from the White Lotus years ago. They fell off the radar after that Earth Empire business.”

“Correct. The Red Lotus has been largely inactive in the following years after their fight against Avatar Korra, but they’ve begun making their move in the years after her death. Part of the reason the White Lotus has hurried to find the next Avatar is because of the fear that the Red Lotus will get to him or her first and kidnap the child. The last thing this world needs is an Avatar that seeks to eliminate the status quo by killing world leaders and abolishing nations.” Malu said.

“Get to the point.” Akira growled.

“There has been a rise in Red Lotus activity in the past few years, and this year they’ve been particularly active. Just a few days ago there was an attack at a White Lotus compound on Air Temple Island, and I’m sure you’ve heard about the recent assassination attempt on Chancellor Kayabuki in Ba Sing Se.” She went on. “The Red Lotus is making their move, and it’s clear that they know you’re the Avatar.”

“How did they know? It was only revealed to everyone at the party.” Jade said. Hua looked at Malu.

“Unless…you think that there was a leak. Someone told the Red Lotus that Akira was the Avatar and now they’re making their move.” She said.

Malu nodded silently. “Yes, and the bombing at the hotel was an attempt to stall for time by killing Genji and I while they made their move on Akira.”

“That’s impossible. No one would dare sell me out like that without dad knowing.” Akira said.

“Not if they think they can get away with it by being anonymous.” Jian supplied. “Attacking our aunt and kidnapping our cousin…this is no doubt a plan to use her as bait to lure you to them, Akira. That firebender is probably one of their agents.”

“We should probably expect a response from your cousin’s kidnapper anytime now.” Genji said. “They’ll want to move as fast as possible to act on the advantage they have.”

“Like hell I’m waiting for a response.” Akira growled. The metal bands on his arm shivered in response to his agitation. “I’ll hunt those people down and gut them myself!”

“Hold up there, Akira. We don’t know where they are or how many Red Lotus members will be there.” Genji cautioned. He tried to put a hand on Akira’s shoulder, but it was smacked off. “We could be outnumbered and walk right into an ambush.”

“I’m already having my men comb the city. Father is working on it as we speak as well.” Jian said.

Malu looked at Akira and saw that just waiting wasn’t going to be good enough. His muscles were tense, as if he wanted to punch something but was restraining himself, and those metal bands were shaking as if possessed by an unseen force. And his eyes…they seemed to get darker the angrier he got.

“There may be a way you can find her, Akira.” Malu said, gaining his attention. “How close are you to your cousin?”

“Very close. I love Yukino like a little sister. We’ve known each other since we were kids. She’s always loved being with me from the moment we met.” He replied.

“Then you have a strong connection. That’s good for what I want you to do.” She said. “As the Avatar, you have many unique abilities. One of them is the ability to sense people separated from by distance by focusing on their chi.”

Akira blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s a technique that my mother taught me. All living beings have chi within them, no matter our race, nationality or gender. It is what connects us, despite our differences. As the Avatar, this ability is stronger for you, due to your inherent spirituality.” Malu instructed him. “I’m not saying that it always works, but if you share a strong connection to Yukino, then you should be able to sense where she is. All you need to do is focus.”

“Focus.” He muttered. Akira had an idea on what she was talking about, but he had doubts on whether or not he’d be able to do this on the first try.

“Come on, Akira,” Jade urged him. “You can do this. For Yukino.”

She took his hand in hers and gave him a supporting smile. Jade wasn’t one to show affection in this manner, but she knew he was in a tough position right now. He needed her support. Her faith. Akira took a deep breath and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll try it.” He said to Malu. “But I’m going to need to be alone for this.”

XXXXXX

Akira sat under his mother’s tree in the family garden, alone and separated from friends and family. As the sun set, the garden was completely enveloped under a cloak of darkness that was barely staved off by the few candles that were lit around the area.

“Focus on the connection, she says.” Akira mumbled as he sat cross legged at the foot of the tree. “Clear your mind and let your spirit fly free to rejoin her, she says. Next she’s going to tell me to be the freaking leaf…”

Akira looked up at the tree, its branches looming above him, visible even through the growing darkness of the coming night. If there was any place that brought him peace, it was this place. Sitting under it gave Akira a feeling that he rarely felt anywhere else in Xian.

“Please let this work.” He whispered and closed his eyes. He placed his fists together in his lap and inhaled through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. He steadied his breathing and focused on his body’s center, the dantian, within his stomach. Then he pictured Yukino’s face within his mind.

For a couple of minutes, nothing happened. All that he felt was the warm breeze of the evening air on his bare arms. Then something happened within his mind. Something just…clicked, and that connection he had with Yukino became something more than an unseen feeling. It was like a tether that pulled his mind to where Yukino was, and Akira let himself be led away from his body to his missing cousin.

It was an odd but slightly familiar experience. His energy sought Yukino’s and a spark flared up within him. His sense extended outside of the city, deep into the forests that surrounded Xian, where spirits roamed far from the noise and blinding lights of human civilization, and into the sky.

“There she is,” Akira smiled and opened his eyes. “Found you.”

XXXXXX

“An airship?” Jade exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s the feeling I got. When I located Yukino, I sensed that she wasn’t anywhere on the ground.” Akira said to the group. He went straight to them after finding Yukino’s location. “They have to be on an airship.”

“Seems like our little terrorist is better equipped than we thought.” Jian said, adjusting his glasses. “How far outside the city are they?”

“Not too far. We can probably make it there within an hour if we go by car.” Akira said.

“Wait a minute, you aren’t planning to actually storm the airship, are you?” Malu asked. Both Fa brothers gave her eerily similar blank looks.

“What did you think we were going to do?” Akira shot back. “Sit here and wait for them to ransom my cousin?”

“You’re the one they want, Akira. If you run headfirst straight into their airship, you’ll be playing right into their hands.” She said.

“We’re well aware of the risks, Master Malu, but this attack on us is a personal insult to our family’s honor. We can’t let this stand, and we certainly don’t negotiate with terrorists.” Jian said. “That being said, we definitely won’t be going in without a plan.”

“And we’re going whether you like it or not, sister.” Jade said, crossing her arms.

Genji stepped in before the conversation evolved into an argument. “Okay, that’s fine. But keep in mind the Red Lotus has ways to deal with metalbenders. Plastic guns and ammunition, on top of airships that are mostly made of platinum.”

“Dude, we know what we’re doing.” Akira said, looking at Genji. “You wanted me to trust you earlier, well I’m asking you to trust me on this one. We can get out on top, but only if we’re all on the same page. You two in or out?”

Genji looked at Malu, who sighed through her nose and nodded. “We’re in.”

“Good.” Akira grinned and looked at the assembled team. “Now let’s bust some heads.”

XXXXXX

Considering they had no idea how many Red Lotus members were still hiding in the city, Genji suggested that their little strike team be as small as possible. Which was something that the Fa brothers agreed with. Jian would have a couple of his own guys, most of them firebenders, follow him on the ground, driving to where the airship was supposedly sitting. They were for extra support in case the airship went down during the fighting.

Akira and Genji would rely on the flight capabilities of the airbender ladies to get them into the air. Malu may have had a wingsuit, but Jade and Hua had their very own, custom-made gliders (loving recreated with a bit of Earth Union flare to make them look cooler than the gliders of old) that allowed them to carry the guys on their backs as they flew to the airship.

Now that he had done his “Avatar sight” on the airship, Akira found that it was actually easy to locate it once they had flown out of the city limits. He still had the path in his mind’s eyes, and he directed their mini-squadron of air-ladies to the airship that was hovering several feet off the ground.

“There, I see it.” Akira said, pointing straight ahead at the large shape hovering above a certain area of the forest. He cursed when the glider he was clinging onto wobbled a bit and glared at its pilot. “Hey, try to fly straight, lady. I’m nervous enough as it is.”

“Get bent.” Jade grumbled, making her glider sway precariously in the air again, earning another curse from Akira.

“Focus, children. We’re almost there.” Malu said. “Hua, Jade, raise your altitude so they don’t spot us. We’ll drop down onto the airship from above.”

The three airbenders flew higher into the air, slowly rising until they were a few feet above the stationary airship. As they got closer, Akira saw the dark red and black airship that camouflaged well against the dark forest and night sky. Looking down at the ground, he knew that Jian’s group were making their move to go under the airship, but it’ll take some time for them to make it up the road. That was Jian’s concern; Akira just had to focus on finding Yukino and beating down whoever started this mess.

They descended onto the airship. Akira and Genji landed first, with Jade, Hua and Malu landing behind them. Akira ran over to an entry hatch and unlocked it with a flick of his wrist. He hopped down into the hatch, with Hua and Jade following behind him. Genji and Malu took up the rear.

“So what’s the plan?” Jade asked.

“You and Hua go look for Yukino. This airship isn’t that big, so you shouldn’t have any problem finding her.” Akira said.

“What about you?” Genji said.

“I’m going to find that bastard who took Yukino and send him back to his boss in pieces.” He said darkly.

“We’re coming with you.” Malu said. Akira gave her a look, but she didn’t back down. “Our duty is to protect and train the Avatar, we’re not letting you stop us from doing our jobs.”

“Fine, welcome aboard the vengeance express. Please leave our morals at the entrance.” Akira grumbled and nodded to the girls. Giving Jade a kiss, he said, “Be careful and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“But you’d do anything to get this done.” Hua pointed out.

“Exactly.” He nodded. “Now move out!”

XXXXXX

“Hey, Bo?”

Bo looked at his partner, Zhang, who was lazily leaning against the metal door to the room that they were supposed to guard. Kra had given them explicit instructions to watch over the hostage until she came back for her. It was going to be a dull time for them, though, and Bo had the unlucky chance of having the slacker for a partner.

“Yes, Zhang?” Bo sighed.

“Why are we here?”

Bo looked at him. “Huh?”

“Why are we here?” Zhang repeated.

“I…I don’t know. I mean, isn’t that a question everyone asks themselves? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Is there some higher power that created the world? Were we made in some god’s image? So many questions and no one has the answers to them.” Bo shrugged. “I think about why we’re here too, sometimes. It keeps me up a night, knowing that I’ll never get those answers in my lifetime. That’s the sad truth of the world.”

There was a moment of silence as Zhang looked at Bo strangely.

“Um, no, I meant why are we here, on this airship?”

“Oh! T-That’s what you meant.” Bo coughed into his hand and looked away. “Sure, sure…”

“What was all that stuff about gods?”

“Nothing.”

“…You wanna talk about it?”

“Nope. I’m good.”

Silence again.

“Why did we volunteer for this mission?” Zhang asked. “We could’ve been in someplace nicer, like Ba Sing Se or the Fire Nation. Preferably someplace that doesn’t have a notorious crime family ruling over it.”

“Grow a pair, Zhang, we’re not going to be here long. We get the Avatar, ditch the girl and head back with our heads held high and street cred for days. Think of the glory, the recognition…”

“The girls!” A female voice yelled.

“Yeah, and the girls…wait.” Bo blinked. “Who said that?”

Bo turned his head and saw Jade grinning at him. “Hey, there.”

Her fan unfolded and her arm shot up, slicing across his neck in one swift motion. Bo stumbled back, blood gushing between his fingers as he slowly died.

“Bo!” Zhang’s fist shot forward to shoot a fireball, but a sphere of air surrounded his fist and snuffed out the flames. A hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around, right into the kick that slammed into his throat and smacked him into the wall.

“Sloppy security for the Red Lotus.” Hua said, pushing Zhang’s body to the floor. “I’m almost disappointed.”

“Don’t jinx it, Hua.” Jade snatched up the keys and unlocked the door.

Jade slammed the door open and ran in, looking for anymore enemies. When she saw none, she quickly ran over to the bed. Yukino was sleeping peacefully, with bandages along her arms and neck, and her head. Jade could see some pink burns on Yukino’s fair skin, but she surprisingly looked better than her mother.

“They must have healed her when they brought her aboard.” Hua said. “There must be a waterbender somewhere around here.”

“Well, that’s not our problem.” Jade wrapped Yukino up in a blanket and picked her up. “Let’s call it in and-“

“Hey!”

The girls froze and turned around to see another guard standing in the doorway. He clearly noticed the dead bodies of his comrades and saw the hostage in Jade’s arms, so he wasted no time in demanding their intentions. His gaze turned to the big red button that was definitely the alarm and Hua acted without hesitation.

A needle slid out of her sleeve and she threw it, propelling the tiny projectile with airbending. The needle shot into the man’s exposed throat as he reached for the button and his body fell as he choked on his own blood. Jade and Hua’s eyes widened as his body fell toward the button.

“Hua, we got to move!” Jade said, sprinting for the door. “It’s about to get loud!”

XXXXXX

“Dear Avatar, we have your cousin. If you don’t come by sunrise, we’ll kill her. Sincerely, your worst nightmare.” Kran read. He crumpled up the paper and burned it to ash. “That’s your best ransom letter?”

“Yes, that’s all that I needed to say. What’d you want me to write, how we’re going to wear the girl’s skin as a coat or something?” Kra sneered. “It’s a ransom letter, Kran, it’s not supposed to be fancy.”

“But it’s gotta be threatening or they’re gonna drag their feet!” Kran said.

“You write it then if you think you can do a better job!” She yelled, shoving a piece of paper inot his face.

Their argument was cut short when they heard the airship’s alarms go off. Both siblings got up and looked at each other.

“What’s going on?” Kran questioned.

“The alarm…there must be an intruder on board.” Kra said.

“But who would…” Kran’s eyes widened. “You don’t think…”

“I don’t think, I know.” Kra grabbed her two water skins and slid them onto her back. “Let’s go before our noble Avatar tries to bring the airship down on us.”

XXXXXX

“Damn it, I didn’t think those girls would trip the alarm.” Akira said as soon as he heard the alarms.

“What do we do now?” Genji asked.

Before Akira could reply, he got a call on the radio. _“Akira, we’ve got Yukino, but one of the guards tripped the alarm. We’re heading back to the entry hatch.” _Said Jade.

“Good. Regroup with Jian back on the ground. We’ll be with you shortly.” Akira said.

_“Okay, stay safe.” _

“Wait, we’re staying? But they’ve already rescued your cousin.” Malu said. “We have no reason to be here anymore.”

“Correction, you have no reason. I’m here to settle the score and teach a lesson.” Akira said. “Better to wipe them out here before they come after me again.”

Akira led Genji and Malu through the long hallway and into the atrium, where they found themselves facing over a dozen Red Lotus members waiting for them in the heart of the airship. In the lead were Kran and Kra, standing beside each other.

“The Avatar.” Kra growled.

“’Sup?” Akira said. He looked at Kran. “You the hobo that put my aunt in the hospital?”

“Yeah, what’re gonna do about it?” Kran asked.

“You don’t want to know.” Akira said.

“Well, since you’ve done us a huge favor by coming here yourself, we don’t need to send a ransom note anymore. Makes things easier.” Kra said, uncorking her water skins and bending the water onto her arms. “Surrender, we outnumber you and you’ll find no impure metal to bend this deep into the airship.”

“Then it’s a good thing I brought my own.”

Akira’s black shirt exploded from his body as multiple shards of metal plates shot out at the Red Lotus members. Three men had metal collars wrapped around their necks and choking them, while another three were unlucky enough to have the sharp plates stab into their throats instead. Akira tore away the remains of his shirt to reveal that his torso was covered in armor plating composed of metal strips. Solidified mercury clung to his forearms and sharpened into blades at a single thought.

The remaining firebenders unleashed combined fire streams at the trio, but Malu created a spinning air dome that deflected the flames away from them. Genji moved forward and shot a lightning bolt at the firebenders, causing them and the twins to scatter.

“Come here, brat!” Kran flanked left and waved his hand. Akira felt the air heat up near him before an explosion rocked the catwalk and almost knocked him off his platform.

Kran flipped over to Akira, aiming flaming kicks at his head, which the Avatar ducked under and slashed at Kran’s exposed legs with his metal blades. The firebender was smart enough not to get too close to Akira, but it was futile as Akira bended the mercury to extend just far enough to leave cuts along Kran’s face. Kran attacked him with a barrage of flaming punches, but Akira deflected his fists before they could make contact with them, never breaking eye contact with his opponent. Kran was finally forced to back away when Akira nearly impaled him with one of his wrist blades.

Kra charged at him with her arms encased in large volumes of water. She thrust her arm forward, shooting a water jet at him that separated into two tendrils that came at him from opposite directions. Akira dodged them and shot two metal plates at her, which she blocked with her other water arm.

‘Okay, time to flex my Avatar muscle.’ Akira thought, blocking a fire blast with his mercury.

He leapt up and stomped the floor, creating a large vibration that reverberated throughout the area. Most of the ship may have been platinum, but not all of it, and it just so happened that some of the support frame of the airship had just enough earth in them to bend. They may have been too far away for a regular metalbender to bend in the heat of battle, but not for the Avatar.

Akira pulled on whatever earth he could sense and yanked hard, raising his arms sharply over his head. The result was the floor suddenly ripping apart as large metal wire frames and beams tore through the floor and curled in the air like metal snakes. Akira spun his body in a rather odd mimic of waterbending moves and the thin metal frames spun around him in a tight spiral. Kran jumped away on jets of flame spouting from his feet, but Kra took a hit to her arm and crashed into the wall.

“Sis!” Kran tried to run to his sister, but got his foot caught in a metal wire. He was pulled off his feet, but was able to twist his body to fire a weak beam of heat at Akira, which exploded close to his face.

“Keep your eyes on me, asshole.” Akira grinned, his mercury blades sharpened over his hands. Kran growled and charged at him, flames trailing from his clawed hands.

XXXXXX

Kra leapt to her feet, wincing at the sharp pain in her arm and ran to aid her brother, but a strong air blast pushed her back. Malu softly landed in front of her, air lightly spinning around her body.

“You’re here already,” Kra growled. “How did you-“

“One of airbending’s applications is widespread attacks. Really, girl, you should’ve known that throwing a bunch of people at me of all people wasn’t very smart.” Malu admonished.

“Oh shut up.” Kra lashed out with a barrage of ice bullets. Malu surrounded herself in an air funnel that blew the ice bullets away and ran at Kra.

Kra launched a water blast at her face, but Malu spun around the blast and punched forward, releasing a spiraling air blast that hit Malu hard enough in the chest to knock the breath from her. A bit dazed, Kra swung a water-coated fist at Malu’s face, but the older woman quickly dodged and got behind her, wrapping her arms around the girl and throwing Kra over her shoulder face first into the hard metal floor.

“You bitch!” Kra snarled, her nose bleeding from the impact. “I thought airbenders were supposed to be nonviolent!”

“They are, but my dad lived on the streets and made sure to teach his little girl some dirty tricks to defend herself when airbending wasn’t an option.” Malu said. Kra tried to lash out, but Malu grabbed her arm and twisted it hard behind her back. “Don’t try it, girl.”

“You’ll never leave this ship alive.” Kra growled. “My brother will still have the Avatar, and he’ll make it out of here before you pacifists will realize it.”

“That’s a bold claim considering your brother is barely holding his own against Akira.”

XXXXXX

Akira had the upper hand on Kran and that was being made increasingly evident as they fought in close quarters combat. Kran tried to gain some distance, but Akira was always hounding him, using his metal plates to block the flames as he landing hard punches to Kran’s face and chest. He let Kran take the lead, retaliating every flaming kick and punch with one of his own and never let the firebender gain enough distance to perform some of his more powerful moves or use his combustionbending.

“Stand still and fight properly!” Kran roared and exhaled a large plume of flames from his mouth. Akira created a square metal shield from his mercury and shoved it in Kran’s face, killing the fire breath.

“Like that’s supposed to work!” Akira punched Kran in the throat to stagger him, before wrapping his fists in mercury, hardening it, and began assaulting Kran’s face with rapid fire punches that slowly brought the boy to his knees.

Through the haze of pain, Kran launching a blazing kick at Akira, who weaved under his leg and gave a hard palm thrust right into his knee. With a sickening crack, followed by Kran’s agonizing cry of pain, the joint broke and left Kran’s leg bent at an odd angle. Akira punched him again in the nose and began another barrage of rapid punches to Kran’s chest, not stopping even as the firebender fell to the floor.

“Akira, stop!” Genji yelled.

Akira did so, but only because he wanted Kran alive. The boy laid on the floor at his feet covered in bruises and cuts, his breathing slow and raspy. Akira stood up and steadied his breathing before looking at Genji.

“You two alright?” He asked.

“Yes we’re fine.” Genji pointed to the groaning men that were strewn about the room in various states of pain. “We took care of the extras.”

“Nice, looks like you two aren’t too bad after all.” Akira smiled. He looked at the restrained Kra and flicked a metal plate at her wrists, pinning them together. “Now, what was that about capturing me?”

“Go to hell.” Kra snarled.

“Hell? Girl, I should be saying that to you.” He wrapped a plate around Kran’s neck and lifted him until he was standing on his toes. “And as for you, ash-spitter, I’m going to have a lot of fun making you cry.”

“Akira, we’ve won. There’s no need to go this far.” Malu said.

“I’m not going to kill them, Malu. They’ll wish I did when dad’s done with them though.” He grinned and walked to the door with his choking prisoner in tow. “Come on. Let’s give big bro a call and commandeer this airship before we crash or something.”

Malu rolled her eyes and pulled Kra to her feet to drag her over to the door. This was going to be a long night.

XXXXXX

Taking control of the airship thankfully didn’t take as long once the pilot saw that most of the crew’s fighters were restrained or dead. Getting back was another story entirely, and by the time they flew the airship back to Xian City, it was early morning and they had to deal with the entire city police department. For all the influence the White Lotus had, it certainly did jack against the temperamental police officers that wanted to put Akira in jail out of spite (the arrival of Jian cut that line of thought short before it even took flight).

The Red Lotus members Malu and Genji took into custody were passed over to the police, but Akira handed Kran and Kra over to Jian. Malu’s hands were tied as the Iron Fan caught the pair of siblings who had committed a heinous crime against the triad. Genji knew better than to try to convince them otherwise.

“On behalf of the Fa family, I thank you for helping my son rescue little Yukino. She’s a sweet girl, too sweet for the line of work our family is involved with.” Xuan bowed to Malu and Genji back at the mansion.

“And I apologize for dragging our conflict into your home. We didn’t mean for anyone else in your family to get involved.” Malu said. “But, if I may, Mr. Fa, the Red Lotus won’t stop here. Now that they know your son is the Avatar, they’ll keep coming. He is the greatest threat to their goals and they won’t stop until he’s dead.”

“Then we better get started on my training then.” Everyone turned to Akira, who just came back from putting Yukino to bed. “Yukino’s a bit stressed right now, but she went back to sleep after I told her about what happened.”

“So…you’ll work with us?” Genji asked, his face brightening. Akira nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll train, but we’ll do it here, in Xian. I’m not leaving my family behind yet, so don’t get your hopes up.” Akira said.

Malu made a face at that, but nodded. “I guess we can have masters travel to Xian. But keep in mind that the Red Lotus-“

“Let them come. They started this fight, but I’ll make damn sure I finish it.” He said darkly. Akira thought about something for a moment and asked, “Speaking of which, tomorrow morning, can we head to city hall? I want to announce this whole thing as fast as possible.”

Xuan raised an eyebrow at his son. “What do you have in mind?”

Akira grinned. “Oh, just a little message to the world…and whoever’s listening.”

XXXXXX

The next morning Akira, Malu and Genji went to city hall to speak to the mayor, announcing his status as the new Avatar. There were many aids and public officials who didn’t want to believe it, but they relented when Akira began stomping the ground so hard that the building actually shook. They plastered smiles on their faces and shook his hand congratulating him saying it was an honor to meet him.

Mayor Yang had called up a press conference for the Avatar, and as expected people flocked to the heart of the city wanting to see the new Avatar, who was to the Iron Fan, who managed Xian’s criminal underworld. It was unbelievable to many, but when the White Lotus backed the claim up, it was hard to really denounce it as some ploy for them to gain power.

Akira stood at the podium in front of city hall, in front of hundreds of people clamoring to see him in person. Malu and Genji stood behind him, making sure everything went smoothly. The flashes of cameras and the mutterings of reporters were an assault on the senses, but it didn’t bother Akira. He had a message to say to the world, and he was going to do it.

“Citizens of Xian City, and people of the world, I am Fa Akira. Most of you know me as the second son of Fan Xuan of the Iron Fan, but I stand before you today as your new Avatar.”

Cheers erupted from the crowd and reporters were yelling their questions at him, raising their hands like eager school children waiting to be picked on. Akira gave a little smirk and raised his hands for them to quiet down.

“I know you have questions, but please, let me say this.” He said. “I know I have some pretty big shoes to fill, and a name to live up to. Rest assured I will aspire to be the best Avatar the world needs. But I am not Korra, and I am not Aang. I’ll learn from my past lives, but ultimately, I’ll be doing things my way. If you don’t like that, then I hear there’s a lot of open space in the Spirit World.”

When it was time for questions, Akira pointed to the first hand he saw. A female reporter, all dolled up in makeup with a fancy hair style that was all the rage these days, stood up and gave her question.

“Avatar Akira, given the recent Red Lotus activity that’s been going on all over the world, was last night’s airship wreck connected to them?”

“My White Lotus friends might not like me saying this, but yes, it is connected. They injured my aunt and kidnapped my cousin to get to me. My friends and I made short work of those people, and my family is currently interrogating them as we speak. That’s all I can really say on the matter.” Akira said.

Another hand went up. “Avatar Akira, do you have any plans on handling the Red Lotus terrorists? Will the White Lotus be collaborating with world leaders to get this conflict under control?”

“I don’t know, considering I just found out I’m the Avatar two days ago, but I’m sure I’ll be meeting with a lot of high profile people to get this mess under control. Which brings me to this,” Akira made sure all the cameras were turned to him as he said his next piece. “I know they’re probably watching the news right now, plotting to kill me in some grand way to assert their backwards ideology over the world. That’s good, because I want them to hear this.

“To whoever’s leading the Red Lotus, your little trick failed. I’ve massacred half of the people you sent to capture me and have the survivors begging for mercy under my family’s thumb. Messing with my family was the biggest mistake you could’ve made, because now you’ll have the entirety of the Iron Fan hunting each of you animals down, and we won’t stop until every last one of you is rotting in the ground. You’re welcome to fight back, it’ll make things more fun.” He said, his green eyes flashing. “So go ahead, keep trying to kill me. Make another go at my family. I’ll keep on snuffing you insects out one after the other, until all that’s left is the ring leader, and then you’ll know why no one messes with the Iron Fan. You people better watch your backs, because I’m coming for you.”

XXXXXX

‘Well, well, looks like we’ve got a fighter.’ Thought the woman as she watched the breaking news on the TV. It was on all the news stations, and now this little speech was going to be talked about for weeks. She couldn’t wait to see the fallout of this little polar bear dog and ostrich pony show.

Crossing her arms, she hid a smirk as she turned to the man sitting at his desk behind her. He was clad from head to toe in crimson and black armor, not an inch of skin exposed to the dim green light of the ornate lamp sitting on his desk. She couldn’t see his expression thanks to the iron mask covering his face, but she could tell he was amused…and eager.

The man leaned back in his seat and laced his fingers together. “Challenge accepted.”


End file.
